Mass Effect 2 Redone
by Gethkiller117
Summary: Saren's dead and so is Sovereign but that just means there's two less guys to deal with. Collectors pose an imment threat to Humanity and its time for that to stop. suck at summaries i knw. Please Read and Review
1. Chapter 1

Mass Effect 2 retold

(I do not own Mass Effect only a copy of the first and second games. I'm just a fan of the future trilogy)

Chapter 1: The Ambush

The Normandy entered the Omega Nebula, the Amanda system near planet Alchera. Here three ships had disappeared in the past month. Alliance high command deemed it to be the work of Geth, especially since we're at war with them. With help from the council and our council representative, former Captain Anderson, numerous strike forces have been deployed throughout the galaxy to destroy Geth forces. Now we were on the front lines trying to find out if there were actually Geth in the Omega Nebula.

We'd been going up and down this route for about four times now, least that's what Pressly says anyway. I was in Engineering helping Tali and Adams out with the drive core. Shepard was getting ready to wake the crew who were in cryo when… it happened. They came out of nowhere. Detected us not five minutes after entering the system, even though we had the damned stealth systems up and running. We knew we were in an engagement with enemy ships when we felt the ship lurch violently to the left. But we didn't know that the damned enemy had weapons capable of ripping through our Kinetic Barriers in one shot.

By the time we knew it, the Normandy was dead in the water. Tali, Adams and I desperately tried to get the shields and engines online. Unfortunately a beam fell and threatened to crush Tali.

"Tali," I shouted. I pushed her out of the way but the beam fell onto my chest. I was damned lucky it didn't kill me. Tali and Adams pulled it off of me but I still was injured. And with the Normandy going under, there was no way we were able to save her. We ran to the elevator and quickly went up a level to the escape pods. They helped me in and the pod launched from the ship. We watched as the ship begin to break apart. Shepard was trying to give us as much time as he could for the crew to get away. Unfortunately he wasn't so lucky to get out. While trying to save Joker, he was knocked away from the pod and was forced to launch Joker's pod before the pilot himself died.

He tumbled through space and died from the vacuum of space. Multiple breaches in his suit left him without oxygen in a matter of seconds. As for everyone else, only a handful of crewmen died. Everyone else made it out with nicks and scrapes. But I got the short end of the stick. The beam that fell on me did something to my heart. After we were retrieved by an Alliance ship, the SSV Einstein, the doc's did everything they could. Unfortunately, my heart was severely damaged and they couldn't fully repair it.

Now things were about to get worse. The council saw this as a perfect chance to bury everything Shepard had brought to light. Said that the reapers were a mere hallucination brought on by the beacon on Eden Prime, which Saren used to manipulate Shepard in order to throw the council off his real plan to invade the Citadel. The alliance even agreed to the damned story, and we lost eight fucking ships just saving their damned council. Even more while taking down Sovereign. You'd think we'd use those loses to have the council change their story.

But instead of siding with the Alliances most decorated hero, they went with the damned politician's who've probably never seen combat. Mike and I had a huge problem with that. We got thrown out of the military for what we were doing. Constantly saying how Shepard was right, even got in several fights back on Earth. Took those and thought they'd use those fights as an excuse to discharge us. But they wanted the death sentence put on us. But as we entered the courtroom, ready to defend ourselves without legal representation, we found legions of lawyers defending us. But these guys weren't hired by my dad, but some guy calling himself the Illusive man.

One of the lawyers explained this action as the Illusive man's way of keeping Shepard's warning alive. But I had a feeling that was all a bunch of bullshit. But we were able to stay alive but unable to stay in the Alliance military. We were given a less than honorable discharge. Mike kinda dropped off the gird with Garrus after the monument of Shepard was unveiled. Wrex went to his home world of Tuchanka. No one ever heard back from him. Ashley and Kaiden stayed in the Alliance and did the one thing Mike and I were unable to do, shut up. Liara went some where but I never got a hold of her, no none did.

Tali went back to the Migrant Fleet and I was stuck on the citadel trying to get work in C-Sec. At first before Saren's attack, C-Sec would turn away most human's and only take a few who showed potential but now they were taking everyone. But with my heart condition and no one left to vouch for me, no one would really allow me on. Then about a year later, some guy approached me while I was paying my respects to Shepard's memorial. Tali was going to do the same and try to invite me to the Migrant fleet with a job opportunity in their marines, I'd be the first human in Quarian armed forces or something like that, but with a job that involved firefights.

But then she saw the guy I was talking with, well mainly the insignia on his shirt. The thing was an odd insignia, like a diamond with two extra turns in the shape with an weird V shape enveloping the front of it. Guy was telling me how he and his employers had heard of my heart condition and were not only willing to help but also put me back into combat and help bring Shepard back. Tali had stopped walking toward me and heard the job offering and nothing else, not even the part where I declined. He left but gave me some type of contact info, just as Tali confronted me.

Called me a traitor, but I didn't even know what I had done. She told me about the group the guy was apparently working for. She thought I had joined the group. I tried to explain but she wouldn't hear it. She then told me about finally getting me a position in the Quarian fleet marines but now apparently I shot that to hell just by talking to the guy from said group. But unfortunately I had no fucking clue on what the fuck was going on. First I get approached by some guy from a top secret group of the Alliance, offered a job in it, then given contact information after I said no to it and now to top it all off I'm getting yelled at by a former friend(from the sound of her voice). Then she leaves and now I've officially lost everyone I ever served with.

First my C.O., then my job in the military and now all my friends I served with. So now what did I have left to lose? When I got back to my apartment my dad had left me, before cutting all ties with me, I thought about what to do. All I had left was this potential job. So what else was I going to do? I took the job. Before Tali went back to the Migrant Fleet I sent her one last message.

It said, _Tali if you're hearing this then I've effectively lost all my friends from the Normandy. Tali, the way you yelled at me for what took place at the memorial at Shepard's monument, I couldn't believe it. I understand what you said but I've got something to say about that. Yes the guy did offer me a job in that group, uh Cerberus I think it was, but I said no. you hear I said no to it. And you didn't give me a chance to tell you I had no interest of joining them, nor did you give me the chance of explaining myself. I won't be joining Cerberus even with their offer to heal my heart. But with all the training from you and other engineers on the ships I was on, guess I'll go and be an engineer. Hope you do well, by the way attached to this is nearly three or so million credits. Consider it my last gift to you as a friend. Tex Thompson, signing off._

That was the last thing I ever sent her. Its been a year since then. Two years and twelve days since the galaxy turned upside down for me. The crew I had come to trust with my life was either dead or on a separate path. I was pretty much the only member from the crew who wasn't in a combat role. Aside from Shepard that is. I began to help fix up the Asteroid Defense Systems or ADS as everyone called when I saw a all but forgotten figure. It the void of space I could've sworn I just the Normandy. Guess space madness was finally setting in.

"Thompson? What the hell is taking you so long to get the fucking ADS up to snuff?" the Foreman asked.

"Huh? Oh sorry chief thought I saw something," I responded.

"Saw something? What the hell could you see out here? We're on a fucking Asteroid, in the middle of an asteroid belt. I know you're some big hero and all but-" he said.

"I ain't no hero. But I served with a company of hero's though. That's long gone though. ADS system should be back on line in a matter of minutes," I said.

"Well hurry it up. Got a Cerberus Frigate waiting to dock and its captain is looking for an engineer," the foreman said.

"Cerberus? Hey I'll get this thing working sooner if you don't put me up for sale. Cerberus caused me all kinds of trouble," I said.

"Yeah sure. I'll get right on that shit," he said. I shook my head at that and went back to bringing the Defense system up. Took me a good twenty minutes but I was able to get the thing operational.

"Foreman, ADS is back online. Now next time we have a meteor shower or some asteroids come we'll have a few more minutes to live. How's negotiations with those Cerberus pukes going?" I asked.

"Um first off what was your dead commander's name again?" he asked.

"John Shepard. Why?" I asked while gathering up my tools.

"Well unless I'm crazy I think I'm staring him in the eye," he said.

"What? Shepard's been dead for two years now. How the fuck can you be looking him in the eye? I mean unless you found his body," I said.

"Tex, just get your ass in here," the Foreman said.

"Fine. But tell those Cerberus pukes that there's no way in hell I'm joining their crew," I said. I got into the airlock as the next group of miners started to pile in. Had to wait until the last were out just so I could enter the facility. Goddamned waste of time as always. The door that led to the asteroid exterior closed and life giving oxygen quickly filled the room. I took off my helmet and opened the interior door to check in with the Foreman. "ADS is online sir. Going down to Hydroponics, if that's alright with you," I said.

I had just barely put down my helmet on a desk when I noticed a ghost I thought was dead. "Shepard? That you?" I asked.

"Yeah. I know you have engineering expertise but a mining colony? On an asteroid? Surely you could do better," he said.

"Yeah but when you're thrown out the military for insubordination and nobody'll hire you, jobs options are limited," I said.

"Why did you get thrown out?" Shepard asked.

"Mike and I got into a few fights Earth side. Damned recruits were spitting on your name. saying how you was a damned pussy and everyone who followed were pussies as well. Showed them a thing or two," I said.

"Hard to imagine you defending my name against a couple rookies," Shepard said.

"The rookies actually numbered about eight or so and had a few followers as well. Damn good fights never the less. But I'm interested on why you're alive," I said," I saw you get spaced. Well from a distance and only knew because of Joker."

"Well I was dead and took nearly two years for Cerberus to rebuild me," he said. That drove a stake home there.

"Cerberus? These guys?" I asked.

"I take it you've crossed paths," he said.

"Once and that was nearly a year ago. Offered me a job with some type of cell. Turned 'em down but I kinda let my life spiral away from me there. Tali saw the offer being made and thought I had taken the job. She yelled a lot when she got to me. Don't quite blame after what those screw ups did. Those fuckers damn near blew up their whole fucking fleet. But I digress, anyway she tells me she finally got the Admirals to allow me on as a soldier of the Quarian Fleet Marines. Then she told me the deal wouldn't work out now and we went separate paths there. Haven't seen or heard from her since," I said.

"I'm sure you sent some type of explanation about the whole ordeal," Shepard said.

"I did. But I'm not sure if she believes it. I've gotten a message from her now and then but deleted them once I got them. Didn't want to constantly read letters saying I was a traitor to her. But if you're with Cerberus I guess I can-" I said. But then the lights went out and red emergency lights came on.

"Um I take it that's not a good thing," Miranda said. I powered up my Omni-tool and checked the systems.

"fuck! The main power couplings are going down. Monty see if you divert power and get the fucking back up online now!" I shouted.

"Tex, we have a problem. It seems that this power lose is not accidental. Also it seems that the terrorists are shutting down oxygen systems," said Monty.

"Damn it! Everyone get your masks on. Air's going to be gone very soon," I said. I moved to the foreman's desk and got on the main P.A. system. "All hands on deck. All hands on deck listen up, Oxygen recycle systems are going out. Get your emergency helmets on keep them on until the station A.I. clears the threat," I said. I put my helmet back on and Monty quickly came on.

"Warning, Emergency Suit Oxygen reserves low. Recommend filling it as much as you can right now," said Monty.

"Not now Monty," I said.

"Seems your friend has problems with A.I.'s," Miranda.

"Wonder how he'll react to EDI. I mean if we get him to join," Jacob said.

"You know I can still hear you right?" I said," and I don't have a problem with A.I.'s. Just that this one here is nearing its six year mark."

"Actually I have been online for five years, nine months, one week, two hours and twelve seconds," said Monty," by my calculations I should function well enough for another two months before former lieutenant Tex Thompson is forced to upgrade. And by upgrade I mean get a new A.I."

"Right. Tex first what do you need, second what did you mean when you six year mark and third why did it say former lieutenant?" Shepard asked.

"Not now. I need you to escort the foreman to give the mining crew access back to the facility. I'll head over to Hydroponics. Airs our main priority right now," I said.

"You better not end up leaving us," Miranda said already distrusting me.

"For Christ's sake can we please worry about the damn power loss and the fact that we're losing oxygen?" I said.

"He's right we've got enough to worry about with this loss of vital systems," Shepard said.

"Fine. Just get the damned thing over with and let us know if you're in or not," Miranda said.

"Fine I can handle that. Just get the others access. We'll need the other engineers here. If we can't stop the fuckers who are doing this, then we can forget the ADS system," I said.

"I take it that if the ADS goes down we might die," Jacob said.

"That's right we lose the ADS then we're left in the open for any nearby pirates or rogue asteroids," I said.

"No need to keep explaining things Tex. Miranda go with Tex he might need a hand," Shepard said.

"I don't need help form damned Cerberus operatives Shep. I can handle this just fine on my own," I said.

"Think about it Tex with out any support you're liable to get held up. And with things like this you really want to be slowed?" Shepard asked.

"Huh I hadn't thought about that. Fine I'll let the operative come with me. Lets make this quick," I said. We went separate paths and Miranda and I reached the main door to the Hydroponics in thirty minutes.

"Okay now what?" Miranda asked.

"we open it and we get the air back on. that's what. And if we get ambushed we kill them," I said with shallow breaths. It was getting hard to breathe for me, damned O2 tank was almost empty. The door opened and revealed the slaughtered crew of Hydroponics, so much for help from these guys. "Okay see that Panel?" I asked pointing to a panel near the secondary life support.

"Yeah," she said.

"Crack it open and start bypassing systems. I'll work on primary life support. Huh shouldn't be too hard," I said. She rolled her eyes at my last expression. She barely had secondary life support on when the station A.I. reported that primary life support was back online. "Okay primary is online. Shepard how are things on your end?" I asked.

"Good. The rest of the crew has access back and now we just need Power. ADS is lagging a bit and wont be online for much longer," Shepard added.

"Roger that. Primary life support is online as well. Meet us at the Primary power Coupling. I'll need some help. According to Monty there's some people still there and they're in a firefight with a couple engineers," I said.

"Roger that. See you over there," Shepard said.

"Affirmative. Miranda lets go. We ain't exactly got a lot of time," I said. I picked up my rifle and ran to the power couplings with Miranda following. When we reached the door, she found me grabbing where my heart would be as I hit the door control.

"Take it that you didn't get your heart fixed?" she said.

"Nope. Makes me push my limits, kinda like the challenge," I said. I opened the door and took a bullet to the chest. "Fuck me!" I shouted as I fell to the ground. I lost my rifle as I fell to the ground. My shields absorbed most of the blow but my heart was missing beats left and right.

"You alright?" Miranda asked taking cover.

"Good. Good. Just kinda losing my heart here. Can't breathe but other than that I'm just peachy," I said. I grabbed my rifle and peeked out of my cover to see if I could spot one of the engineers. Luckily I saw them, these guys were ex-reservists. I got along fine with them during my short stay here. They saw me and I gave hand signals indicating they had back up. The older guy nodded and I gave the signal for heavy suppression fire. They understood and unleashed a helluva lot of fire. I popped up to see Shepard and Jacob enter and shot the terrorists from behind.

"Hell yeah! Take that you terrorist mother fuckers!" one guy shouted.

"Hey get the fucking power online! The ADS is about to go down. Move it people!" I shouted.

"Yes sir!" they shouted back.

"Glad to have you back Shepard. Things are never dull with you around. Was getting tired of it as well," I said.

"Good to be back. So you want in on the job?" he asked. He held out a hand.

"So long as I only take orders from you and you only, fuck yeah I'm in," I said. I grabbed his and shook it.

"Welcome to the team Tex. Need to grab anything?" Jacob asked.

"Just some weapons I got stored. Plus I need to cancel my jobs lined up and including this one," I said. I left to gather my weapons and met them on the new Normandy. As I exited the airlock with my duffel and weapons case in hand I saw a familiar face in the pilot seat.

"Hey Tex how's it feel to go from a bad-ass marine to an engineer with a heart condition?" Joker asked with a slight smile.

"Laugh it up. Besides it sucked for me. I got thrown out the military remember?" I asked.

"Yeah. Commander's waiting for you in the communications room. Just follow the walkway to the right, go through the armory turn left and open the door," Joker said.

"Thanks. See you in the mess hall or something," I said. I walked to Comms and found Shepard waiting. "Freelance Engineer Thompson reporting sir," I said saluting.

"Always with the formalities huh? Good to have you onboard any way," Shepard said. I laughed at the joke but then turned a bit serious.

"Quite frankly though I'm not very big on the idea on working with Cerberus, just to reiterate. Some of my best buds got in a tango with some of their operatives and got killed. Wrong place, wrong time," I said.

"Duly noted. But don't worry, you don't work for them, you work for me," Shepard said.

"Right. Got any where for me to bunk?" I asked.

"What do you have in mind? This Normandy is a lot bigger than the old one as you can see," Shepard said.

"Just a place to sleep and maybe work on upgrades to my guns. Don't care really," I said.

"The Port Observatory is open if you wish," said a disembodied voice.

"Um who's there?" I asked.

"I am. I am called EDI, short for Enhanced Defense Intelligence," said the voice once more.

"Um is that an A.I.?" I asked.

"Yep," Shepard said with a smile.

"Damn it. First I'm dealing with a nearly six year old A.I. and I thought Jacob was kidding about the other A.I. here," I said.

"By the way you still need to tell me about the former Lieutenant thing. Last I remember you were an operations chief," Shepard said.

"I was promoted not long after the Normandy was destroyed. Plus slapped with a desk job back on Earth. And the rest you know," I said. I picked up my duffle and headed for the port observatory. I met Yeoman Chambers on the way and once I exited the elevator I caught a whiff of military provisions which suggested I was near the Mess. I opened the observatory and began to unpack my things. I pulled out a dagger and instantly remembered when I procured it, Tali gave it to me before the Ilos mission. I put it in my boot so I could reach it east enough and got situated. I laid back and fell into a deep sleep. _good to be back in action, _I thought.


	2. Chapter 2: Archangel

Chapter 2: Archangel

I woke several hours later to see that I was on the Normandy, the old one. For some reason I could only dream up scenario after scenario about that event. What if we had some back up? Had Alliance ships or even some Turian escort ships. Never understood each of them really. Just ran through scenario after scenario, but eventually you wake up to the reality before you, whether you liked it or not. But now for me I woke up in the new Normandy and Shepard was still alive. Good to have things back. I put on the Cerberus uniform and was just disgusted by the fact that I wore the symbol of a group I hated each time I put the damned thing on. I walked to the Mess to see the never impressive sight of MRE's and was greeted by Mess Sergeant Gardner.

"Hi there. You must be the new guy Shepard picked up. You're infantry right?" he asked.

"Was. Now I'm just a plain old Engineer. Can't do too much with my heart in the shape it's in combat wise," I said.

"Damn. Well least you're back with your old commander, pilot and doctor. Shame we couldn't any more people from the Normandy," he said.

"Wait. Chakwas is here too? Damn just need to get Adams and resurrect Pressly and we'll just need to track down the others," I said. Gardner laughed a little at that.

"always a joker huh?" he asked.

"Should see Mike. He would've been the funniest Alliance soldier nominee had we not been thrown out. But now I've got no idea where the hell is. Could be mayor of a colony for all we know," I said.

"Yeah. Well here's your food soldier boy. Sorry about the MRE's. all I got to work with," he said.

"No problem. Been eating this shit all my life. Kinda hard to eat like a normal civvie when you're raised on Alliance ships all your life," I said. I took the tray and sat down next to a couple Cerberus people. Kinda hard to stay away from them on a boat like this. But they were quite friendly. Then again I was human, not an alien. Shepard came down eventually and sat next to me.

"So how you liking the ship?" he asked.

"Pretty well sir. Food has something to be desired but what exactly, you'll have to talk to the cook. So we having to put together a team again huh?" I asked eating what looked to be beans.

"Yeah. We're headed for Omega. Ever been there?" Shepard asked.

"Couple times. Mostly was for business. You'd be amazed about how many people there are that want an engineer to help fix stuff," I said sipping the coffee that came with my MRE. Well it was more like a black powder in a cup. "Other than that though no. But when we go there keep a good eye on your credits, weapons, armor and whatever else, Omega has a bad habit of swallowing those up. Learned that the hard, lost about three hundred credits in one location," I said.

"Good to know. Hey know of any upgrades you can think of to improve the ship or the squad?" Shepard asked.

"let me think. I might know where to get a small one-man fighter for close air support. I mean if you want it," I said.

"We'll need all the help we can get. Where is it?" He asked.

"Well to be honest its in an Alliance facility. Heard my dad talking about a smaller version of our planes to get behind enemy lines or provide close air support much faster than any plane we have today. My dad heads the project, I could call and see if he'll let us have a prototype but don't expect much. I'll talk to him while you go get whoever is on our list," I said.

"Well it'll have to wait. I want you to come with us," he said.

"What? Shepard in case you missed it I've got a bad heart. I wont be of much help in a heavy weight fight. And on Omega with the gangs about, heavy weight fights are almost a sport for Omega to boot. I'll just be a liability," I said.

"If I considered you a liability, why did I recruit then? Could've just let you stay an Engineer," Shepard said with a smile.

"Bastard, got me good. I'll do my best then. Get any word from the rest of the old squad?" I asked.

"Other than the people here and Tali? Nope," he said.

"Tali? You ran into Tali? What did she decided to go on another pilgrimage or something?" I asked.

"No, she was on a human colony looking for a fellow Quarian. Went by the name of Veetor. Cerberus wanted to take him in for interrogation but worded it differently. Didn't buy it for a second though. She asked about you too. Guess she thought Cerberus pushed you enough to join. Miranda told her that you constantly told her and Jacob to fuck off was it?" he said with a smile.

"Most of the time it was fuck off. Sometimes I'd say piss off too. Hated Cerberus with every fiber of my being. Must've kept at for a while but then I just stopped checking my extranet messages. You know just seemed better than always than constantly seeing a message from those fuckers everyday," I said.

"Can't argue with that logic. Would've done the same if I were in your shoes," Shepard said.

"Yes but to think you turned down a chance to have combat duty again for a Quarian. A Quarian of all things," Miranda said coming in to the Mess.

"I take it you've never had a human say no to a job that didn't involve working with aliens. Not me. I may have a slight hatred of a certain Quarian but other than that I'm cool," I said.

"Who Tali? I'm sure I can help with that," Miranda said obviously pissed of about something.

"No not Tali. A different Quarian. The bastard that sold out me and my boys on my first training mission as a demolitions expert. I'm not sure you've been told but I was the only man that got out alive, far as I know anyway," I said.

"Why's that?" Jacob asked coming in too.

"Well I'm hoping I can find the bastard that got my friends killed. Get some payback for my guys you know?" I said. I had anger but wasn't letting it eat me up.

"I can probably help. Just give me some time. Anyway, Shepard EDI says we're closing in on Omega," said Miranda.

"Good hate waiting. Tex, suit up," Shepard said.

"Aye, aye commander," I said.

"What? You're letting Tex come? Commander, with his heart condition he's liable to get someone killed. We can't simply wait for him every time his heart threatens to give out," Miranda said.

"I'm not that useless. Besides I've been around Omega more times than you I bet. I also have exceptional skill with a sniper rifle. So if we get in a situation, all I have to do is point and shoot," I said walking away. I walked to my quarters and grabbed my weapons and armor. I slapped in a fresh clip for my sidearm and got my ACR and slapped on a thermal scope. My secondary was an old Winchester 1887 shotgun. I met the rest of the squad at the airlock and walked toward the end of the hall when we were greeted by a Salarian who seemed a bit nervous.

"New to Omega huh? I can always tell. Ah wait Tex? It is you good to see you. Whatever-" he said.

"Leave, now," a Batarian said sternly approaching.

"Yes Moklan. I will whatever you want," the Salarian said. He left quickly and the Batarian turned to face us.

"Nice to meet you Shepard. Aria wants to see you too," he said.

"How do you know who I am?" Shepard asked.

"Had your ship tagged the moment you entered the system. Aria is curious on why there's a dead spectre here. But I'm sure she'll be happy to deal with her favorite engineer," the Batarian said. He walked away after that.

"Okay, mind elaborating?" Shepard asked me.

"Don't be going to your smutty mind for the answer to that. I just provided her some Intel I got while I was here. She paid well too," I said.

"Right I bet she did," Shepard said jokingly. That caused Jacob to laugh some too.

"Laugh it up assholes," I said. We headed into Afterlife and went up the stairs in back to where Aria was. We were stopped by her and as Shepard was scanned we had the attention of everyone there, which was just about half a dozen guards all armed with assault rifles. My fellow team mates all drew their respected guns as Shepard was scanned. "You might want to put your guns away. They don't take kindly to people with guns aimed at or near Aria," I said calmly.

"Listen to your engineer. You fire he makes it out alive but you three don't," Aria said.

"What makes my squad member so important?" Shepard asked.

"He caught wind of a coup that was going to go down against me. Found out about it while working with a Quarian. He didn't have the creds to help him as he wanted but spruced up his inventory to get more buyers. He overheard it while grabbing some tech from Vorcha. I owe him a lot more than I can pay. What do you need?" Aria asked once the scan was complete.

"Tex? You're the one she owes a favor," Shepard asked.

"We're looking for a couple people. One's a doctor Solus. He's a Salarian possibly-" I said.

"Possibly from the Salarian Special Tasks Group?" Aria asked.

"Yeah. I take it you've seen him around," Shepard said.

"Yes. He set up a clinic over in the infected districts to help with the plague. Anyone else you looking for?" Aria asked.

"Know a guy named Archangel?" Shepard asked.

"Not as much as I like but yes. He showed up some time ago. Put together a team and decided to pull the gangs apart. But he lost them all, now he's on his own and about to be killed by the gangs," said Aria.

"Know where we can find him?" I asked.

"Yeah so long as you don't mind fighting through them after you rescue him. They're pretty adamant on killing him," she said.

"Damn, guess I should get you back to the ship then huh Tex?" Shepard asked half jokingly.

"Please do. He's kinda pissing me off," Miranda said.

"I aim to displease. Besides I can always just run to wherever Archangel is and set up a sniping a position," I said with a smile.

"Good enough for me. Lighten up too Miranda. Just be glad we haven't run into Mike. He's worth four of Tex, annoying wise not soldier wise," Shepard said.

"And he is trust me. I swear he'd always get us in damned trouble with the D.I.'s. nearly got us kicked out the service. But you could always count on him to watch your back. I wish he were here," I said.

"Why? So we had more familiar faces from the old crew?" Shepard asked.

"No so that way miss 'pissed off cause I chose freelancer business over god damned Cerberus work' doesn't slit my throat," I said.

"Come on lets get Archangel. There, lets ask that Blue Sun over there. Maybe he knows where to find him," Shepard said.

"Good idea. Looks like he's recruiting too. Or just directing the recruits to the recruiter," said Jacob. We walked to the Blue Sun who directed us to the private room they were using to recruit freelancers.

"Okay send in the next one," said the recruiter. We walked in and the guy seemed happy to see us. "you look like you could do some damage. Standard fee is five hundred credits each and if any of you die your friends can't pick on your cut," said the recruiter.

"Well not much of incentive to actually have friends along huh?" I asked Jacob.

"Apparently not," he said in response.

"You'll need to provide your own weapons and armor, hmm seems you already got that covered. You'll get paid once the job's done and no this does not make you a member of the Blue Suns, Blood Pack or Eclipse. You are merely freelancing for all three in this case. Nothing more, nothing less," he said.

"So long as we get paid we don't really care," said Shepard. He was laying on the whole I don't really give a damn like he was an actual merc or something.

"Like the attitude. Keep it up and show what you got on the job and maybe Tarak will offer you a job with the Blue Suns. That is if you live. Archangel's been tearing through you Freelancer's like a knife through butter. Ah well from the way you're equipped, you might survive. Might anyway," he said.

"We'll take our chances," Shepard said.

"Send in the next one," the recruiter said as we left.

"Hey this where I sign up?" the next guy asked. Shepard took notice of the voice and realized this guy sounded too young to be going into a fight like this.

"Hey kid. You even old enough to be freelancing?" Shepard asked.

"I'm old enough. I grew up on Omega. I know how to use a gun," he said.

"So does Archangel," said Jacob.

"Yeah also apparently he's one hell of a shot with it," I said.

"Whatever. And besides I just spent fifty credits on this pistol and I want to use it," the guy said pulling out a shitty looking gun. Shepard rushed him to see if he actually did know how it worked. The guy did but the damned thing jammed on him.

"Get your money back kid," he said hitting the gun and forcing the overused clip out. And apparently that was the guy's only clip. The guy seemed sad to actually be left on a fight. Poor bastard didn't get what we meant. Well he'll find out on the news soon enough. We walked to the designated shuttle and were taken to the merc staging point. Turned out to be just a walk across the bridge to Archangel's hidey hole. But Archangel was just killing them like crazy. Seems that the mercs also got a special team in to wire the place with explosives and or kill Archangel.

"hey you know where sergeant Cathka is?" Shepard asked.

"Over there fixing up the gunship. But I'm in no rush to die," said the freelancer.

"Hey Shepard, Tex here. Got the little problem in the storeroom fixed," I said over our communication link.

"roger that," Shepard said.

"Going to help Archangel huh?" the freelancer asked.

"What makes you say that?" Shepard asked.

"Don't worry. I'm no snitch. Just don't kill me or have Archangel kill me," the freelancer said.

"Will do. Thanks," Shepard said. The Freelancer left and I quickly caught up to the rest of the team. But I found that Cathka was dead from being impaled from a type of welding thing.

"Uh what's up with Cathka?" I asked.

"Told him to take a break," said Shepard. He patted me on the shoulder and said," Get ready Tex. We're headed for Archangel now."

"roger. Let's go," I said. We hopped over the barricade and watched as the hapless freelancers were begin gunned down as they ran towards Archangel. Archangel was a demon with the rifle. Every time the stupid freelancers took a step, one of them fell.

"Come on lets give these guys a little surprise of our own," Shepard said. We pulled out our rifles and shotguns and quickly started to gun down the enemy. I used my biotic charge ability to take out a merc bomber. I wiped around and used up my last few rounds in my rifle to hit a couple mercs. I pulled out my 1887 Model and found myself aiming at an old friend, Mike.

"Mike?" I asked over the gunfire.

"Watch your back!" he shouted as he fired a three burst into a merc behind me.

"Good to know you're still on my side," I said.

"less talking more shooting," Mike said. Shepard and his squad came up and started mowing down more mercs.

"Hey, Mike what are you doing here?" Shepard asked.

"Helping out Archangel. Good to see you alive Shepard," said mike. We were able to kill every freelancer there and a lot quicker with Mike with us. Archangel opened up the door leading to him and we saw that Mike wasn't the only guy from the old Normandy crew. Archangel took off his helmet and showed his true identity, Garrus Vakarian.

"Garrus what are you doing here?" Shepard asked with outstretched arms.

"Just keeping my skills sharp. Nice to see you again Tex. Thought you were retired from combat and were working as an engineer," he said.

"Was and engineer. Shepard came back from the dead to put me back in action. Was getting tired of not being in the fight too," I said.

"Well good to have friends here," Garrus said. He explained about how he was capable of getting the gangs of Omega to team up. But then he noticed a lot of Eclipse scouts were attacking. "Damn scouts are hitting now," Garrus said.

"Actually no. I reprogrammed them to attack their so called masters once they activated. Also reprogrammed that heavy mech of theirs. Should keep them at bay for a while. But not long mind you," I said. I reloaded my ACR and loaded a couple rounds into my shotgun.

"Like the way you think Tex. Wrex would be proud," Garrus said.

"No more like Tali, if you know what I mean," Mike said with a smile.

"Stow those smutty thoughts mike. We need to-" said Shepard. He was interrupted by several explosions. "I take it that's very bad," he said.

"Yep. They just started to break through the lower levels. We'll need to either get those shutters down or stay here and face a much more difficult fight," said Garrus.

"Right. But I'm not leaving you here alone. Tex, you and Miranda stay with Garrus. Two snipers and two biotics should keep them at bay," Shepard said.

"Commander, maybe you should have Mike stay here instead of Miranda. I trust him more than her," I said. And I did trust Mike more than Miranda. If Mike wasn't trust worthy, he'd have shown it during our investigation of Saren. Plus he and I watched each others backs during boot camp and Eden Prime.

"Good point. Plus I hate fighting in tunnels too cramped. Plus gives me a chance to screw with Tex's head after a year," said Mike.

"Yeah on second thought I think you should leave Miranda," I said realizing that the only thing that doesn't make Mike the perfect soldier was his mouth. Drove the sergeant crazy sometimes too.

"Too late. You're stuck with your buddy," Miranda said, apparently she saw how I hated Mikes idea on him bugging me.

"Sorry Tex. But you do do better with someone you trust watching your back. Having two people you trust works better too," Shepard said.

"Fine. Mike set up position near the stairs just incase they start to get by us. Shepard good luck," I said. They left and mike started making up for lost time on his mouthing off duty as he calls it.

"So you and Tali finally do the deed when I was gone?" Mike asked with a chuckle.

"I'm a bit curious as well," Garrus said. Little I or the rest knew, Shepard was still listening.

"Okay, well first of all keep eyes down range. The Heavy mech is taking damage and Eclipse is about make a big push. But to shut you two up, no we didn't. In fact we're not exactly on speaking terms," I said peering into my scope.

"Oh. So what she take one look at you without your uniform on and dumped you?" Mike asked as I took a shot.

"Ha-ha-ha. Good one mike," Garrus said.

"Actually it was because of damned Cerberus. Now keep the radio clear of unnecessary chatter. Goes double for you Mike and that's and order," I said.

"Sorry can't oblige. You're not a soldier nor my senior officer," Mike said.

"Yeah well I am. And Mike shut the fuck up now! Tex your squad leader there. Just like old times," Shepard said over the radio.

"Thanks Shepard. How you doing on your end?" I asked as I fired two rounds into an Eclipse merc charging at us. Damned fucker was tough to take down, used up an entire clip on him as he made strides to us. "Garrus, Salarian fucker headed right toward us. Get him," I said.

"On it. Damn it's Jaroth," said Garrus. With that he blew the guy's head off. "Got him," said Garrus. Then we heard the door behind us, on the ground floor blow.

"Damn it! Mike heads up. Behind us!" I shouted.

"I got it," he said.

"Shepard's got the shutters below closed. They're headed back now," Garrus said.

"Good. Hold the line!" I said.

"Rahh! Rip them to shreds!" shouted a Krogan. Several Vorcha entered the room. Garrus shot a Vorcha square in the face and Mike and I took down a Krogan with combined rifle shots.

"I got him!" Mike said with enthusiasm.

"It only counts if you call it!" I shouted gunning down a charging Varren.

"Oh that's Bullshit man!" Mike said. Shepard quickly showed up and helped Mike, Garrus and I gun down the rest of the attacking squad. "Yeah. Three points the good guys, jack shit for the bad guys," Mike said with a cocky tone.

"More like fifty points for us. Shepard, think we ought to head out and charge the mercs. I think we can take them. If we can't just sick Mike and I on 'em and they'll just fall over and die," I said with the same cocky tone.

"Garrus? Any suggestions?" Shepard asked.

"I think we should hit 'em now. Tarak may have the toughest group, but nothing we haven't faced," he said.

"They don't have Krogan," Miranda chimed.

"Yes thank you Miranda. How bout we file that in shit we already now?" I said.

"Can it. Tex, any thing coming?" Shepard asked.

"Don't look like it," I said. Then a gunship appeared and started off loading troops.

"'Don't like it' huh?" Mike asked firing at the newly arrived enemy.

"Hey I didn't see it until we did so fuck you!" I said taking cover. We were quickly able to kill the enemy reinforcements. Unfortunately that called for splitting our team. Shepard, Jacob and Miranda moved down stairs to take out the enemy squad that was deployed down there. Mike moved over to the broken window off to our right and looked out to see he could spot the gunship.

"Tex, looks like that ship bugged out," Mike said.

"It's got to be here somewhere. They got to know Archangel is still here. Shepard anything on your end? I got a bad feeling about this," I said.

"Nope. I'm going with mike here buddy. Lets get out while we can. Get Garrus," said Shepard.

"Roger that. Garrus, we're- OH fuck!" I shouted. I opened fire and tried to bring down the gunship. The ship quickly started to fill the room with bullets. Mike was able to stay out of the gun's range but Garrus and I got stuck in it. I took nearly two dozen rounds and fell. Blood started to pool from out of my body. Garrus didn't fare too well either. He took a rocket to the face, or just about anyway. Shepard and the rest got to us in time before more troops started piling out to finish the job.

Mike searched my fallen pack to see if I had something heavy enough to knock out the gunship. Luckily I did, a Grenade Launcher, M70. It also had a special design, four rounds of grenades with pump action slide. Mike showed off his aim and sent all four flying, destroying the gunship and clearing the shuttle for a dust off. Garrus and I pulled through but were worse for wear. Garrus had a hole in his suit and his face was torn to hell. Me, my shields took the brunt of the fire, about a dozen rounds, and my barriers held off another three rounds before failing but two rounds grazed my face and the rest were through and through shots.

None went through anything vital thankfully. Now we had an old member of the first team and were headed for the citadel to pick up another potential squad member, Kasumi Goto. The galaxy's most famous and talented thief.


	3. Chapter 3: Back to the Citadel

The Citadel

The Med-bay on the new Normandy was just like the old one and by like the old one I mean the fact that Doctor Chakwas was there. She finished scanning me for the hundredth time and gave me a clean bill of health, minus my heart anyway.

"Well guess I owe Shepard about fifty credits thanks to you," she said.

"Fifty credits? Why?" I asked.

"We made a bet. Tried to see if you could stay out of the Med-bay, for at least two missions. The one where we first recruited you didn't count," she said.

"Damn. I'm here for only a couple days and people are already making bets on me? I might as well write a book on this," I said jokingly.

"Yes. By the way Garrus was up before you. He's over in the main batteries if you want to talk with him," she said.

"Thanks. Shepard say anything about recruiting anyone else?" I asked.

"Yes. We're headed for the Citadel to pick up another squad member. Also to see Councilor Anderson. Hopefully we can get the council's help on this mission. That's his hope anyway. Oh and he told me to tell you to suit up, we're not far from the Citadel," Chakwas said as I left.

"Thanks. Well better get ready," I said. I walked into the port observation room and put on my armor suit. Unfortunately, it now had some holes in it that made it seem useless. "Shit. Hope fully the Citadel has better shops this time. Else I'll have to use my materials on hand to fix this piece of shit up," I muttered to myself.

"Yeah will if you upgraded when everyone else did back on Earth, you wouldn't have that problem," Mike chimed in.

"What? I am sharing this place with you? Be just like boot camp all over again," I said.

"Nope. Shepard's got me bunking one level down. Cargo bay, or well actually flight deck as it's called. See at the airlock man. Oh yeah before I forget, I saw Tali not too long ago," he said.

"Don't care. She and I ain't exactly on speaking terms. Course you'd know this had you not gone off to do whatever you did. Speaking of which, what did you do?" I asked.

"Basically the same thing as you, Freelancing. Well except not as an engineer of course but still same line of work really. Why ain't you two on speaking terms? Were damn near close to seeing each other without armor or any type of uniform on if I remember correctly," he said with a smile. Damned bastard was just waiting to crack another joke about me having a crush on an alien.

"Well happened about a year ago. Got a job offer from Cerberus," I said.

"Cerberus? Oh I see why she dumped you," Mike said.

"Hey can I finish without you're commentary? I swear remind of my time on Blood Gulch.(and for any who have seen Red vs. Blue, yes I mean exactly this place. Just felt like throwing in it) they offer me a job with combat involved and my heart fixed. I told 'em no but Tali didn't hear that part. Next thing I know, I'm told she talked to the Admiral's to get into the Migrant Fleet. Blew that to hell when I was seen with the Cerberus agent it seems. We went our separate ways after that. Don't know what she's up to nor do I really give a fuck actually. Shepard ran into her at Freedom's Progress, seemed to think that Cerberus got their hooks into me and I joined up," I said.

"Well she was wondering when you were going to show up when I saw her. Apparently she didn't quite care, just wanted to vent. Guess you took it kinda personal though. Ah well there's always a chance we'll see her again. Well I gotta suit up too. See you out there man," he said walking away. Shepard called me up to the CIC before I could ponder what Mike told me about Tali.

"Hey Tex. Report to the CIC on the double. Got a message from your dad," he said.

"Roger that commander. Just give me a minute to get my gear ready. A little shell shocked down here after a surprising talk with Mike," I said.

"Tell me about it later then. Just get your ass up here," he said.

"Roger that," I said," Great. Probably the message is of my dad chewing Shepard's ass for having me on board again." I grabbed an M16A4 and attached an ACOG scope. I also grabbed an Benelli M1014 shotgun and a Desert Eagle for my sidearm. I walked to the elevator and took it up to the CIC. When it finally reached the damn place, lousy speeds, Shepard was waiting at his terminal talking with Chambers, our neighbor psychiatrist. "Wanted to see me commander?" I asked with a salute.

"Yeah. I had the Yeoman send your dad a message regarding the X-38. And weren't you two not on speaking terms?" he asked.

"Last I checked yeah. But then again he cut all contact with me really," I said.

"Well, he's waiting at Dark Star Lounge. Apparently he's more than willing to loan us the X-38. We'll stay in port long enough to get some things done. Rupert put in a request for some better quality ingredients while we were away. We'll meet you here when you're done. I assume that this Kasumi will have a mission lined up for us to do for her," Shepard said.

"Thanks for the heads up Commander. Hey do you know if the stores there sell new battle suits? I need an upgrade," I said with a cocky smile.

"Tex, first just call me Shepard. We're past the rank thing, especially since I'm still considered dead. Second I've been among the living for only a few days now. How the hell would I know if the stores on the Citadel have better suits?" he asked in a joking manner.

"Never know. Once met a man who was in a coma for a good decade or so and immediately knew what was new and what was garbage," I said," of course he did work for the company that made the items and oversaw the dates when they were shipped or released to the public."

"Touché. Just be ready once we dock. Which will be in about three minutes. By the way what did Mike say to you?" he asked. I leaned against a wall behind us before continuing.

"Apparently Tali's offer for me to join the Fleet Marines wasn't as closed I thought. She met Mike somewhere and asked about me. She still didn't know we had gone our separate ways so he had no idea what I was up to. For all he knew I could've ended up like your squad on Akuze, not meaning to drag up old memories mind you," I said putting up my hands to try to block the attack that might come. None came.

"No harm no foul Tex. Besides I don't beat up guys with heart conditions, or get shot up because of said condition," he said jokingly.

"Hey I only got shot up because the gunship got behind us. Had nothing to with my heart. If I had been running down the bridge then I'd agree with you," I said in protest.

"Oh by the way, Chakwas wants to put an implant on your heart so you don't complicate the mission. You're choice though," he said.

"Fuck that. I don't want some crummy pace maker or whatever making my heart work right. Rather spend the rest of my life as an engineer," I said.

"Which is why I had the Doctor put it in you regardless of what you say," Miranda said walking up to us.

"You did what? Listen here lady. I prefer to do things my way, if I were the C.O. of this ship you'd be off this ship so fast it'll make your head spin," I said seething with rage.

"I agree with Tex here Miranda. You had no right. Tex prefers doing things without the tech we take for granted," Shepard said backing me up.

"Commander we need all squad members at peak efficiency. Not running on fumes like Tex was," she said.

"Okay now I think this was a bad idea. I am close to saying fuck it all and leaving. Got plenty of work in the 'verse," I said.

"What's stopping you then? What ever it was that stopped you from joining Cerberus sure didn't stop you from joining us," she said.

"That's because Shepard is in charge. Or at least I thought he was. Right now I wish I was killed by the damned beam that fell on me instead of living in this shit," I said.

"Knock it off both of you. Miranda, you had no right to be putting something in Tex," Shepard said. She just looked at me like she had a plan to kill me or something.

"Fine, I'll be sure to remember that next time he needs a life saving implant," she said irritated. She walked away back to the elevator and left the room.

"Remind me to put locks on my bunk so she doesn't slit my throat," I said.

"Yeah. Well I'm sure you'll do fine. See you when you get back. We're docking now," Shepard said. He went to get Jacob to recruit our master thief. I went up to Joker's seat to find him arguing with the ship's A.I., again.

"Come on EDI, why do you always have to complain about everything little thing I do that's not exactly regulations?" Joker asked.

"Because it's how the buggers are programmed. Trust me on that, I've been living with a headache like EDI for about six years," I said walking to the airlock.

"Oh good to know I'm not the only one with ship cancer," he said. I just smiled at the fact he was being beat at his game by a computer. The airlock opened and I proceeded to the damned DNA scanner. Hated these things, always think they're going to accidentally ping me as a terrorist or have C-Sec detain me for some bullshit reason like they always do. I went through the scanner and passed with no complications. I met my dad in Dark Star like Shepard said.

"Good to see you again. Hope the past two years treated you well," he said.

"Fairly well yeah. I hope you know what I'm actually here for," I said.

"Yes, I know. Shepard's alive and he's got you and most likely Mike to help him on a secret mission," he said. He took a drink of some type of alcohol and continued. "But it's so high priority you need the X-38 fighter to help get the job done," he said.

"Well that's a good summary right there," I said. He just figured out why I was here except the fact that our mission involves Cerberus and Collectors.

"Tex, I got a small ship offloading the X-38 onto the new Normandy. Plus an old friend of yours and a new A.I.," he said.

"Why are you helping me? Remember the Ilos mission? You weren't exactly a supporting superior officer. Only Anderson helped us out last I remember. Besides how do you know that I've teamed up with Shepard?" I asked.

"Well why else would you actually be back on the Citadel? Last I remember your life fell apart here. Cerberus made you a job offer here? Offered to fix your heart and give you a combat role. And I know because word gets around. I also know about your mission against the Collectors and being funded by Cerberus. I'm only helping because… because of your mother," he said.

"Mom?" I asked.

"A colony that went dark not long ago. Freedom's Progress. No one was left, far as we know," he said socking another shot into him.

"Shepard was there not long ago. Found Tali and a survivor. But the survivor was a Quarian on Pilgrimage. Confirmed the Collectors were behind it all. He gave us all the information and samples we need. Not sure how much we'll be able to use from it. We'll do our best to save mom. Thanks for the help," I said leaving.

"Tex, if you ever need any type of equipment or anything I'll help as best as I can," he said. I looked back and barely saw what he once was two years ago, hard nosed by the book soldier.

"Dad, when I signed on this mission, it was because I was doing my duty. But now, those damned Collectors just made it personal. Also, who is this old friend? And, any chance he has a spare combat suit? The one I got on is pretty fucked up," I said.

"You'll have to find out who is once he's on board and yes he's got a spare suit. Do me a favor kill all those fucking Collectors make them pay," he said.

"Just like me when I lost my squad dad. Don't let the hate burn you up. I learned that two years ago. Granted it just my squad I lost, not the woman I loved but still don't let it burn you up," I said and I left. I arrived back at the Normandy to see Shepard talking to a man in some type of green armor.

"Tex, bought time you got here, was about to leave you here," Shepard said.

"I see the package has arrived?" I asked.

"yes, good to see you again too Tex," said the armored man.

"Been a long time since boot John," I said shaking his hand.

"Special Forces Boot I presume?" Shepard asked shaking his head.

"Yeah, but not like N7, more demanding and everything. By the way, Tex what's the mission I signed up for here?" John asked.

"A do or die mission. Where we might not make it out alive. Feel free to back out anytime," Shepard said, answering for me.

"Well I'm in. right Cortana?" john asked.

"Yes. Even though I don't quite agree with joining the mission," said another A.I.

"Great, as if Tex's A.I. and EDI weren't bad enough. Now I got a third A.I. on my baby? That's just fucking great!" Joker said displeased.

"There something wrong with your Pilot?" John asked.

"He's just mad because now there's three artificial intelligences talking and/or shouting at him doing something wrong. Lets hope we don't end up re-recruiting Tali or we're in for hell," I said.

"Why? She got a phobia of A.I.'s?" John asked.

"Uh no, it's just that she's a Quarian and they hate A.I.'s. Was hell for us back during our investigation of Saren where she barely tolerated Monty," I said.

"Ah that makes sense. Commander if you need me I'll be in the hangar with Mike," John said.

"Make yourself at home John. Or at least as close to it I presume," Shepard said. John left and Shepard turned to talk to me. "So got your dad to loan us a Spartan as well?" Shepard asked.

"He was already willing to give us a fleet if I asked. Shepard we have to do this fast," I said.

"Why? We're going as fast as we can already. Not like we've got super powers. I mean unless you count your biotics. Why did he seem that way?" he asked. I turned and looked at the galaxy map before answering.

"My mother. She was on Freedom's Progress when the Collectors hit apparently. Wants me to find her since I'm this mission. Knew an awful lot about it too," I said.

"What if we don't find her?" Shepard asked.

"In his words, 'kill 'em all.' not a bad plan either. I just hope we find her though," I said.

"You got my word that we'll find her. If we don't I give you the Normandy's main guns if we face one their ships," he said trying to raise my hopes.

"Hey if anyone's blowing up any Collector ships first it's me. I still got a major score to settle remember?" Joker piped in.

"Thanks Shepard. Just count on me finishing this job," I said. I headed for the elevator and Shepard yelled something at me.

"Oh by the way you're sharing your quarters with our new squad member," he said as the doors closed. _sharing quarters with a new squad mate,_ I thought, _not John he's in the hangar, then who. Oh the thief. _the elevator stopped and as I entered my quarters I was greeted by Kasumi, the thief. But she didn't seem exactly like I expected, not all gruff or serious like a master thief might be like.

"Hi, names Kasumi," she said.

"Uh hi. I'm Tex, nice to meet you too," I said.

"don't worry Shepard already told me I'll sharing this place with a crew member. I take it's you?" she asked.

"uh yeah. And one thing, if you're going to steal stuff please make sure it's not mine. But that a majority is Miranda's too," I said.

"Sure but I don't steal from team mates," she said. I sighed relieved but was going to lock up my weapons just in case. Shepard set the Normandy on a course back to Omega. As if we didn't have enough trouble from that place. Well onward to Omega or some real bullshit like that.

* * *

A/N: if anyone is reading this(hopefully) and you're wondering about John and Cortana then it's obvious they're the same from Halo. I tweaked it so that Cortana was still the most advanced A.I. but John, a.k.a Spartan-117, was a specially trained soldier with the same feats of the Halo Spartan with out being abducted by O.N.I agents at age six. Please read and review. All forms of reviews welcome and to the guy using the, what I call, callsign Mac, if you hate my fan fiction then why in the name of Khe San did you read the two chapters of my first one and leave two more reviews after. Stop reading it if you hate it. And if you don't know what Khe San is, just look it up.


	4. Chapter 4: Mordin Solus

Mordin Solus

Well back to Omega. As if we didn't get enough of it apparently. Apparently having two squad mates nearly killed by three different gangs didn't really change Shepard's mind on coming back. Nor did it do anything for him to pick someone else for the away squad. Well beat being on the Normandy any day of the week so long as it got me away from Miranda anyhow. But this time we weren't looking for a criminal getting the heavy heat from the local gangs of Omega. We were looking for a scientist on this dump. Thanks to our first meet with Aria we knew where to look. But we were impeded by a security guard.

"Sorry sir this place is off limits to the public. We have a problem down there. A plague that affects just about every other race out there, but not humans apparently. Everyone thinks they caused it and now Blue Suns are losing turf to the Vorcha fast," said the guard.

"Why are the Suns losing ground?" Shepard asked.

"Seems that with the Suns being mostly Turian they took a hard hit. Then the Vorcha came in and started to gun down everyone in there path. Civilians are getting hit no matter what race they are. Humans mostly though. We got orders to keep any more people out. Once the fighting is over we have to go in and burn all the bodies. Human, Turian, Batarian… any body we see dead," the guard said.

"What about those that are alive?" Shepard asked.

"We'll escort them as best we can toward the doctors clinic for treatment. But that time could take a while to arrive. The fighting is still ferocious and it's been a few days since the Vorcha started to grab Blue Sun turf. If the Vorcha weren't well Vorcha, I'd say this was more than a simple sickness gone wrong," said the guard.

"Why do you say that?" Cortana asked.

"Cortana, the Vorcha aren't really known for using brain over brawn. They're mostly stupid life forms they only thing that people really know them is either by A, their speech B, what they look like or C, how they are pretty much immune to every disease out there," I explained.

"Yeah and why are you just waiting? Why not have us just go in and clean house? Like you said it'll be awhile before the fighting is over. Why wait when you can get the job done fast? We're Commandos, we can go in and solve this problem faster than the usual wait it out session. So why wait when a faster solution is right here?" Shepard asked.

" well hard to argue with that logic I guess. I'll radio ahead and let them know to let you through," the guard said.

"What? you're stopping me but not them?" a nearby refugee asked.

"You don't have a grenade launcher lady," the guard retorted. Shepard turned to us and Garrus was less than happy about going into a plague that affects Turians.

"A plague that kills Turians. couldn't we find a nicer place to go?" Garrus asked.

"Don't worry Garrus head back to the ship. Tex, Miranda and John are more than enough to fight this fight," Shepard said.

"Yeah Garrus plus you deserve the rest," I said.

"fine. Good Luck Shepard. Be careful though Blue Suns will fight tooth and nail for their turf. Vorcha will fight worse though," Garrus said as he left.

"Lets go. John show me what got out there," Shepard said.

"You got it Commander," said the Spartan. We got aboard the shuttle and rode it to the infected district. The guards let us through and told us good luck against the Blue Suns. We found two Blue Sun troopers standing guard not far from the district entrance. Nearby were burning bodies of innocent people they had most likely gunned down. Infected or not, human or not.

"Tex, John snipe 'em," Shepard said.

"Much obliged," I said. We drew our sniper rifles and crouched to get clear shots on the guards. I flicked on my laser sight and sighted in on the trooper on the left. John took the one on the right. Miranda coughed slightly and threw off my aim, even though the bullet still found its mark. John fired a half second after me and both troopers fell like sacks of potatoes. "Two down," I said.

"Move it up," Shepard said. We switched to our rifles and advanced to the Blue Sun position. We saw a suffering Batarian up against the wall, in clear view of the Blue Sun guards. Fuckers didn't even take notice or even care. "Hey are you alright?" Shepard asked the sick alien.

"Human. Should've known one of you would come to take the last of what I own. Damned humans unleash the plague on us and loot our homes," the man said.

"Shepard looks like he's in major pain. Guess this plague doesn't give them a nice peaceful way to die. Just a painful and agonizing end," I said.

"Do you need help? We've got Medigel, escort you to the-" Shepard said.

"Get away! I don't need your fucking pity, just another insult," the Batarian said interrupting Shepard. He coughed and said," I hope you… I hope you… ah Damnit!"

"Hey stay with us! This won't cure the plague but it should ease the pain," Shepard said giving the alien a painkiller.

"I didn't think humans would even be capable of such things. What is it that you need?" the Batarian asked.

"We're just here to help. Do you need an escort to the Clinic?" Shepard asked.

"No, I'd just slow you down. But be careful, the Blue Suns are shooting anything that moves the further you go down that way," the Batarian warned.

"Thanks for the info, we'll be sure that Mordin sends someone to help you," Shepard said.

"Your words are sincere. Thank you human. I'll wait for help," the Batarian said. As we moved further away Miranda spoke up.

"We could've just let the alien die you know," she said," he was an asshole."

"What the-? Commander permission to say 'you unfeeling Cerberus Bitch'?" I asked.

"Granted," Shepard said.

"Miranda, I can't believe you said that. You unfeeling Cerberus bitch, the guy was dying. I would have done the same thing, even if the fucker tried to take a shot at me. Besides he was just reacting as well as any alien could when a plague hits and only Humans and Vorcha are immune," I said. She just snorted at my comment and it wasn't long before we hit a roadblock. Well John found it before we actually ran into enemy fire.

"Commander, we've got a blockade up ahead, Blue Sun soldiers are holding it. There's a stairwell behind us should have a fairly good view and provide some sniper support," he said.

"Roger. Tex, you and John go up and give us whatever support you can give," Shepard said.

"Affirmative. Come on John lets roll," I said. John and I went up the stairs and hit set up our positions. I got a Turian in my sights and John got a Human and I held up three fingers. "Targets acquired, awaiting shooting confirmation," I said. One finger went down.

"Take the shot already," Miranda said.

"Patience is a mother fucking virtue in the art of sniping," I said. I put another finger down.

"Not right now it's not," Miranda said.

"Fine, if it'll shut you the fuck up," I said. I put the final finger down and John and I pulled the trigger at the same time. Both Blue Sun troopers went down at the same time. The Turian was missing it's whole face while the Human was missing a chunk of its brains. "Targets down. Go, go, go," I said. Shepard and Miranda ran out to draw out the remaining soldiers and watched as each was brought down by combined sniper fire. Only one was left and before Miranda could claim the kill, two shots rang out and the mercs head and torso went in the same direction. Each with a hole in it. She was pissed how she didn't get the kill. Even more when I shouted," I got him!"

"Sorry old Chap but I got that one," John said.

"Like hell you did," I muttered into the comms.

"Shepard please shut Tex up. I don't think I'll be able to take this much longer," Miranda said.

"Get used to it. He kinda helps relieve the tension," Shepard said as John and I argued over the last kill. "We'll need that in this mission," he said.

"Fine. Great shot to whoever took my kill," she said to John and me.

"First of all it only counts if you call it. Second of all that was my kill," I said.

"Like hell Tex. You got his chest, I got the head. He died faster with my shot," John said.

"Bullshit that one was all me," I said. Shepard shook his head at our argument, apparently he didn't take this as a very reasonable argument but did make him chuckle. Then he noticed a door off to the side of the blockade. "Hey, any idea where that leads?" he asked.

"Nope. Maybe an armory or some type of morgue? I ain't got a damn clue," I said.

"Only one way to find out," he said. We approached the door and he signaled me to hack the door control. I did and the door opened two minutes later. Inside we found a couple refugees hiding from the Blue Suns.

"Oh thank god! You're not Blue Sun are you?" the man asked.

"No, just commandos trying to clean up this mess. Also trying to find Mordin, we need his help," Shepard said.

"Oh well good thing the Blue suns didn't find us. They've been killing everyone. Trying to stop or delay the plague from spreading any further. They think that humans are carries and they're using that as an excuse to gun down non-blue sun humans. They made them keep their helmets on until they can tear the cure from Mordins' hands and cure all their infected men. But they just kinda gave up on that, heard they lost more men trying to storm his clinic than to the plague. He just held them off and killed all of their raiders. Didn't even use the mechs he brought," said the man.

"He's letting in people to his clinic. Infected or not, human or not. Giving them refuge until the firefights end," said the woman.

"Then why are you here? Shouldn't you be there and not here? Where the Blue Suns have a better chance at catching you?" Shepard asked.

"We don't even own a single pistol! Plus even if we did, the whole district is crawling with Vorcha and Blue Sun soldiers! How can we fight them like that?" the man asked.

"The clinic isn't that far right?" Shepard asked.

"Shouldn't be, why?" the woman said.

"Like I said we're headed that way. And we'll kill any Vorcha or Blue Sun that attempts to stop us. Should clear you a path for a good time to get to the clinic," Shepard said.

"What? You're clearing the way for us? But what if more Vorcha or Blue Sun troops get to those places?" the woman. I stepped forward and presented my pistol to the man with spare clips.

"Wha-?" he asked.

"Just in case there are any Blood Pack or Blue suns. You do know how to use one of these don't you?" I asked.

"Uh yeah. Sorta, but I have seen vids of soldiers shooting one of these. I could probably shoot one," he said nervously.

"Good. By and by just aim for their kneecaps. Send them falling to the ground in pain and thinking twice about messing with you. But that's with Vorcha. Blue Suns though, you just need to shoot their guns. But above all else just run fast as hell," I said.

"Thanks for the info and for the gun. I'll get it back to you at the Clinic," he said.

"Alright now just wait a few minutes and then make a run for the clinic," Shepard said as we left. We left and I drew my rifle as Miranda gave me a dirty look.

"What?" I asked.

"You just give out guns to anybody? What if he tried to take a shot at you?" she asked.

"for fucks sake. Shepard can we just shoot her or fire her or something? She's done nothing but bitch at me for what I do. I swear makes me wish that knife killed me back on Feros," I said.

"I can arrange that if you want to die," she said.

"Knock it off, both of you. Miranda, Tex has an uncanny way of 'reading' people. Tex, just put a helmet on and turn off your external speakers," Shepard said.

"Yeah but… huh I never thought about that. I'll try that some other time," I said. John took the lead and we heard gunfire further up, closer to the clinic.

"Guess Blue Suns are trying to gun down more civvies," Shepard said.

"No listen closely. The shots are going back and forth. Like as if it's a real firefight. And whoever they're fighting is winning. Ten credits says it Vorcha," I said.

"Twenty says its Mordin and his mechs," John said.

"Deal. Prepare to lose," I said.

"Alright. Tex, you and john head up the stairs and snipe any Blue Suns you see," Shepard said.

"Roger that. we'll head up there now. Come on John, sniper time," I said. He and I went up the stairs and sent up our rifles. And John lost a bet.

"Damn guess I owe you some money huh?" he said as we sighted a couple Vorcha.

"Damn right you do," I said. Sniper rounds flew as Shepard and Miranda hit the Blue Suns from behind. Vorcha just kept coming though. Must've had roughly 15 or so Vorcha attack with two Krogan for backup. "Shepard guess we'll have to use more bullets with Vorcha and Krogan about. Hate it that these fuckers can regen," I said.

"You and me both Tex, just keep your eyes open and shot the head," he said.

"Affirmative. Huh, another locked door. Probably some more refugees trapped. Hopefully anyway," I said.

"Yeah and alive too. Could be some dead bodies the Blue Suns locked away when the Vorcha hit," John said.

"Roger. Tex, you and John go on to the clinic and see if you can find Mordin. Miranda and I will check out this place," Shepard said.

"You got sir. Thanks for not sticking me with the Cerberus bitch too," I said. John held back a chuckle as Miranda shot me a glare. I just turned and headed to the clinic with John. When we got there, it seemed like something out the movie _Outbreak. _"Damn. Looks like the plague of Europe during the middle ages. But less medieval and with more aliens and more science," I said.

"Don't forget more hate towards humans," John added.

"Thanks for reminding me, I really needed to be reminded of shit like that," I said. We walked to room with an orderly, a Salarian and a sick Turian and heard the orderly talk to the Salarian and used the name Solus. This Salarian had to be our guy. "Excuse me, are you Doctor Mordin Solus?" I asked.

"Yes, I am. Hmm, you aren't from this district. Cleanup crew? No not enough men. Investigating plague as possible Bio-weapon? No too many weapons, even for Omega, not enough recording equipment," he said.

"Relax, we're just here to recruit you for our mission. But our C.O. is helping out some refugees and sent us ahead to collect you," I said.

"Hmm, no I can't Clinic understaffed, too many cases diagnosed with the plague. Need to save them first, also need to find any others that need the cure," he said.

"Goddamnit. Wait could we possibly insert the cure into the places water or enviro systems? Would that work? Make it easier and faster?" I asked.

"The enviro systems yes, but two soldiers to do the job? No not enough! Need at least a squad of eight heavily armed men to do this. Can't spare any guards or mechs," he said.

"Gotta admit, better wait til the commander shows up. Vorcha aren't the smartest people in the galaxy but they are vicious sons of bitches. Ran into a firefight with them on a colony and those buggers can really fight. And the fact that they regen like Krogan doesn't help at all," I said.

"And we won't be waiting for long then," said Shepard.

"that was fast, what the civvies ended up dead?" I asked.

"Actually there were refugees but they were looting a dead Turians apartment. Got them to stop," he said.

"What with a little intimidation? That'd do the job," John said.

"Yes, so did you get the doc to join us?" he asked.

"Not exactly, he needs to help the people here. We might be able to get him to join if we help him cure the district. But considering where the enviro controls, we'll need to expect some serious resistance from the damned Vorcha and what Krogan they've got," I said.

" I get the idea and the risk so are you chickening out?" he asked smugly.

"What? Chickening out? Hell no, sir. Just letting you know in advance to bet on me to bag the most kills after the mission. I.E. me," I said with a cocky smile. John rolled his eyes to show that the bet was between him and me.

"Whatever. We got the cure?" he asked shaking his head.

"Waiting on the good doctor," I said. Mordin quickly turned around and handed us the cure and a new gun he got off a dead merc. He stopped Shepard just as we were about leave and asked him to keep an eye out for an M.I.A assistant of his that went looking for more possible infected Batarians. Damned kid was trying to be a hero. But now we were working against the clock. Vorcha had taken out the air flow to the district.

"Tex, you locked and loaded?" Shepard asked.

"You know it sir," I said tapping my rifle.

"Good. Oh and try not to get shot, stabbed, punched, kicked, or anything else like the last eighty times we've been on missions together. I kinda want the Doc to have a day off this time from having to patch you up," Shepard said.

"Oh very funny. Come on give me some credit here. You wouldn't have made it this far without me," I said.

"Do I really have to remind that I died with you still on my crew two years ago," he said jokingly.

"Nice to see you can joke about your death. And that wasn't my fault, I was preoccupied," I said.

"And to quote Mike, doing what with who? As if we didn't know already," Monty said.

"I thought that you didn't make jokes? Kinda glad your finally laying off the computer die hard talk," I said.

As we walked out of the Clinic we almost ran head long into a Vorcha guard post. "Warning enemy contacts dead ahead," Monty said. We quickly stopped and Shepard moved forward with me to the edge of the wall.

"Damn. Tex try to see if you find out how many there are," Shepard said. I nodded and suddenly I disappeared into thin air. "What the?" Shepard asked. Then a Vorcha armed with a crude flame thrower suddenly fell to the ground with almost no sound.

"Commander. In about two seconds the Krogan on the left will meet an odd end. Once I give the signal you and everyone else come out and start shooting. Get ready," I said.

"Affirmative. Wait, what's the signal?" Shepard asked. Then a Krogan on the left suddenly burst into flames and two grenades went off, killing another two Vorcha. "Oh, that's the signal," he said.

"Classic signal," John said. The rest of the team popped out and every one started shooting and in a few short minutes, all enemy combatants were dead. I came out and waved the rest of the team forward.

"What the hell was the whole vanishing thing?" Shepard asked as we ran further through the district.

"Yeah uh well this was part of the new gear I got from my dad. Cloaking material. Best way to kill without being seen and without a sniper rifle," I said. We came upon a hallway with two doors. One continued onto the environment controls while the other went to, private quarters maybe?

"Tex, John. Stack up," Shepard said.

"Roger that. Stacking up. Ready to breach on your signal," I said.

"Or we could just use the button and walk in without some type of explosive," Miranda said.

"Miranda? Shut the fuck up now, getting tired of your shit," I said gritting my teeth.

"I kinda like the breaching too, seems logical," Shepard said. Miranda then just opened the door to find some gun wielding Batarians holding a human hostage.

"Still not sure we should've just breached?" I asked.

"I agree with Tex, the enemy would've been surprised and confused allowing us to kill them in the afore mentioned confusion," said Monty.

"Yes thank you Monty, just file that away under shit we already know," John said. The Batarians had already shifted formation with the main lead guy held the poor human as a shield. Shepard held up a hand signaling us to hold fire.

"Wait! We're not here to fight you! We're here to help, we're trying to get to the environment controls and restart the air. We just got side tracked, we've got a request to help a man by the name of Daniel. He works for Mordin Solus," said Shepard trying to keep the situation from growing worse.

"That's me! Please help me, they're going to kill me! They think I'm poisoning people," said the human in the choke hold.

"He is though! We saw the vials in his bag! Each mostly likely filled with the plague," snapped a Batarian.

"No! they're the cure! I swear it on my life! Please you've got to believe me!" Daniel shouted in desperation.

"Why do you think he's poisoning people? Most if not all, of the species here have got to be Vorcha. Why would he waste a perfectly good poison on those that are immune? He would've had to know the rate this thing works too, had to have enough time to poison anyone and escape fast enough. He look like the type to actually do that?" Shepard asked. The Batarian thought about for while before speaking.

"Never thought about that. And he doesn't look the type anyway. Human, if we let him go, will you let us go?" the Batarian asked.

"Yes. You have my word," Shepard said. The Batarian released the hostage and the others lowered their weapons.

"Now may we go?" he asked.

"I'm a man of my word. Yes, head over to Mordin's Clinic. Path should be clear for awhile," Shepard said hooking a thumb back. The Batarians left and Daniel gave his thanks as well. Shepard told him to report to Mordin on the double and Daniel took his leave as well. We continued toward the Enviro system control and after a series of firefights, we made it. But the Vorcha wouldn't give up. After inserting the cure into the system, we had to fight through, what seemed any way, an entire battalion of Vorcha and Krogan troops. But we eventually got the fans on and the Vorcha retreated.

I took my bayonet out of a dead Vorcha and panted as I walked to Shepard. The fight had exhausted my ammo to the point where I had to use only my bayonet. "Commander, Fans are operational once more," I said saluting.

"Good and now I owe Joker fifty Credits," said Shepard said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Made a bet that you would be wounded once more," he said with a smile. I laughed at that and could only imagine what other bets people had made on me.

"By the way, I scored about forty kills. So pay me once you get the chance," John said while stretching.

"More like you have to pay me, I bagged at least fifty," I said.

"Damnit I think someone fucks with sights on this thing when I'm not looking," he said inspecting his gun for any flaws.

"Blaming the loss of a bet on weapons, typical. Sometimes I wonder why I was assigned to this soldier," Cortana said.

"Ha ha very funny Cortana. By the way I was just blaming the loss on my sighting gear, damn thing seems to be off for some reason," he said. Shepard rolled his eyes at the argument as John handed me sixty credits. Miranda just groaned about the pointless bet. Once we got back Mordin quickly began to talk about the levels of the plague dropping and Vorcha falling back, cowards.

"Thank you for saving me, I thought those Batarians would've killed me if not for you," Daniel said.

"Too risky would have killed them myself," Mordin said coldly.

"Professor how could you say such a thing? You're a doctor you help people," he said.

"Yes and that would have helped them. Many ways to help. Healing ways and killing ways. Either way can help depending on circumstances. Must always remember that, life may depend on it," Mordin said.

"Will you join us Mordin? After all we did just help you fight the plague," Shepard said.

"Yes, will leave Daniel in charge of clinic. Also will leave Mechs, just in case. Meet you on the ship," Mordin said as he left.

"Right we're headed there now too," Shepard said. We left with him but Shepard and I got held up with the Refugee we met earlier.

"It's good to see you again. Thanks ever so much for clearing the way. Encountered a couple Vorcha but this pistol seemed to do the trick. We can't thank you enough though. Oh here's your gun back," the refugee said as he handed me my pistol.

"Hmm how many Vorcha did you encounter?" I asked. The clip was half empty and I only got one spare clip back, I gave him three to work with. Not counting the one in the pistol already.

"Uh a few, but I am a bad shot too. I can't really wrap my mind around shooting someone or something. But thanks anyway," he said as he went to his wife. I holstered my weapon as we continued to walk to the ship. Once we were on board we went to our respected areas while Shepard briefed Mordin on the mission. I used the time to shower and catch some sack time. Now we had to recruit a Krogan and this one wasn't Wrex, can only hope he doesn't kill us. Well guess we have to find out.

A/N: Sorry for the long interval just been having writers block. Oh and to Mac, if you were a marine you'd know that when I was talking about Khe sahn I meant the American Base back in Vietnam which faced assault after assault from NVA regulars and was filled with U.S. marine ground forces and even south Vietnamese soldiers. Emphasis on MARINE ground forces. And no I'm not air force I'm just another civvie and I will join the marines. Also thanks to halofan256 for the first good review I've got. And seriously to anyone else reading, review anything you got to say, except Mac, we already know what he thinks. So Mac stop reviewing and reading if you think it sucks. Will post chapter 5 soon.


	5. Chapter 5: The Krogan

The Krogan

When my clock woke me I rolled off the couch and onto the floor. _Should've seen that coming, _I thought to myself. I got up and looked around to see Kasumi, my new roommate, looking at my helmet. "Nice pictures, this one of you and your first squad very cool. Bet they berated you on using an old camera," she said.

"They did. I don't remember saying you could look through my stuff," I said as I walked over to take back my helmet.

"Wait, what's this? Oh a picture of you and Quarian. Who is it?" she asked pulling out another picture from my helmet.

"Hey come on leave my stuff alone. To answer your question, the Quarian is Tali'Zorah nar Rayya. Or at least that's what I knew her as, she might have a knew ship name for all I know. And I know what you're more or less going to ask so no," I said as I grabbed my helmet. But she still kept the picture out of my reach.

"Oh so you two never saw each other without anything on?" she teased.

"God almighty next time Shepard recruits me I'm spacing myself out an airlock," I said as I finally grabbed the picture back. I put it back in my helmet and threw it with the rest of my equipment.

"You like her huh? I saw it your eyes. I'm pretty good at reading people," she said.

"Well if it'll shock you enough to shut you up, then yes," I simply said as I got into an old miner outfit.

"Wow, never known that might happen especially with the son of an admiral. Why are you wearing a miner outfit?" she asked as she got up.

"Beats the hell out wearing one them uniforms with the Cerberus emblem. I'd rather walk out in front of a shooting range wearing a bulls-eye on my back rather than wear one of those," I said. I smoothed out my outfit and walked out to the mess for a cup of coffee and some type of food. But to my surprise there was actual food being put on the trays rather than the same lousy M.R.E's I had to stomach back on my previous jobs.

"Man, hey Tex! Rupert's finally got some actual good tasting food! Halleluiah!" said Mike as he began to eat the new food.

"Rupert. Heard you finally got some good food. Smells good too. Gotta be good for it to do that," I said as I grabbed a tray.

"Yup. While you were talking about getting a plane and a new squad member, Shepard got us some quality ingredients for me to whip up into proper food. Here dig in," he said as he put some good looking food on my plate.

"Damn ain't ate like this in… well never," I said. I walked over to where Mike was and sat next to him. "Pretty damn good food huh? But usually this means we're about to go on a mission where we might die," I said. Then Mike and Garrus, who just joined us, gave me a look. "What?" I asked.

"Dude, we're on Shepard's team. We're always going on dangerous life threatening missions. And you usually end up getting shot, stabbed or nearly blown up," said Mike.

"Oh yeah and you got your throat slit too," Garrus said.

"hey man don't help him," I said. Then Shepard walked in and sat down next to us. "Commander," I said.

"Nice to see you too. Listen up I need the ground team to consist of Tex, Garrus and Mike. I trust you guys a lot better than I do with the others," he said.

"Don't say that to the Cerberus bitch sir. She might get insulted and next thing we know I'm being thrown into a wall," I said jokingly.

"How would that affect me again?" he asked with a chuckle.

"Who said anything about it affecting you? I'm talking about me here. She already hates me and she can't kill you without dooming the galaxy and countless generations to come," I said sipping my coffee.

"Good point. Well we're picking up a Krogan for the team. A warlord Krogan mind you. He's currently working with Blue Suns. We're going to make him a better offer," Shepard said.

"How so?" I asked.

"Kinda hard to not take a job when you're employers are dead. Remember we don't take too kindly to Blue Sun people. Garrus I don't want any fuckers hitting us before we see them. Mike, we might need you as body shield. Tex, we'll need your expertise in blowing shit up. Might never need it but better safe than sorry," he said.

"No problem sir. You can count on us," I said.

"They won't know what hit them," said Garrus.

"Sure won't be able to hit a moving target like myself," Mike said with cocky smile.

"Just say the word chief and we'll hit the ground nice and heavy," I said.

"Then suit up. We're going to make landfall soon. Be ready for heavy combat, Blue Suns don't like when we try to take something of theirs. Garrus ought to know first hand," Shepard said.

"He's right. I tried to take away everything they had to finance their operations and look what happened, my team got killed and now my face looks like shit," Garrus said.

"I thought it always looked like shit, then again that was before a rocket won an argument with you," said Mike.

"Mike shut up. Just get ready. Remember L.C.R," I said.

"L.C.R?" Shepard asked.

"Locked, cocked and ready to rock," I said simply as I left the mess. Kasumi was taking a look at my old suit, the one filled with holes from the Archangel mission.

"Man I don't who you survived twelve shots from a Mantis gunship," she said as I entered.

"Wasn't that hard, I've had my throat slit and was nearly blown up and I've been shot at. Also if Garrus can survive a near direct impact from a rocket, I'm pretty sure I can survive twelve shots," I said. I quickly kicked the under bottom of the couch and a drawer popped out with my new armor that John brought with him.

"When did you add that?" she asked.

"Last night, I've got a knack for stuff like this. Hell I usually upgrade my own weapons, why else am I able to kill the enemy without using up too many clips?" I asked as I pulled on a leg piece of my armor.

"Really? I'll ask Shepard if you can come on the mission I need to do after you recruit the Krogan guy," she said now looking at my weapons locked up.

"Whatever, heard it was going to a stealth mission, I don't do stealth," I said latching on an arm to the chest plate.

"Keep saying that, but I'll get you on it. As you say, 'never say never'," she said.

"Just did… twice," I said holding up two fingers as I used my other hand to pull on a boot. I put on the cut open helmet and grabbed an ACR with a laser module and a ACOG scope. With that I grabbed an M9 berretta and an M79 for my secondary's. I also grabbed a couple frag grenades and bowie knife. I got to the shuttle and strapped in as Mike took the vehicle into the planets orbit. "Mike, you're a pilot?" I asked in disbelief.

"Yep, I said the same once John told me about you being the pilot of the X-38. Of course you were off dreaming about Tali'Zorah again so I couldn't say anything or get a proper response," he said with a chuckle.

"Oh hahaha, just don't crash us I want to live til I'm an old man you know," I said.

"Like that's a possibility in this outfit, we're working for Shepard here dude. Survival rates are next to nothing with this guy, no offense sir," he added as he flicked a switch and brought us to the ground.

"None taken, besides there's plenty of places of my throw you into the line of fire so I don't need waste any thermal clips," Shepard said with a smile. He held up his fist to me and we fist bumped in agreement.

"Yeah pick on the pilot who controls you're very lives. That's smart," Mike said with a crooked smile. The shuttle touched down and the ground team disembarked with the co-pilot taking over so Mike could join the "fun". we advanced forward and nearly ran head first into a bunch of Blue Sun troops. Luckily they seemed to be… new to combat. Garrus drilled a hole into a troopers head while Mike and Shepard unloaded their rifles on three trying to get a bead on us. I used my biotic abilities to charge one and sent him flying back into a wall, where Garrus finished him.

"You took my kill!" I said as I shot one of the last enemy troops.

"Didn't see your name on it," Garrus said as ejected the spent heat sink. The only Blue Sun soldier left was wounded and freaking out about a bullet in his leg.

"Shit, oh shit. It won't stop bleeding. It won't stop bleeding," he said in a terrified voice.

"Doesn't look too bad actually," Garrus said as he looked the wounded enemy.

"Idiot wouldn't know a real wound if it bit him in the ass," I said.

"I think it already it," Mike said holding back his amusement at what I said.

"Right. But right now he doesn't need to know the full extent. Least not until we get what we need," Shepard said. He walked over and squatted to meet the mercs eyes. "You need there? I can but I need some info," he said.

"Go to hell," the merc spat. Shepard shook his head and pulled out a packet of Medigel.

"Damn pity friend. I had a nice application of Medigel ready to help you. But I guess if you don't want it," he said waving the medical supply in the mercs face.

"Ok ok. I don't know much other than Jedore wants an army of the best. She hired this Krogan named Okeer, I think his name was, to produce the army. But he just gives her these Krogan that don't seem to be properly like soldiers. So she just has us use them for live round target practice," the merc said quickly.

"Makes sense. Especially after the body count our late lamented friend caused," I said making sure we kept Archangels true identity and status secret.

"Thanks for the info. So now-" Shepard said just as he was interrupted by an enemy transmission on the mercs radio.

"Outpost 24 come in, outpost 24 report now," said the radio.

"Send your friends away now," Shepard said convincing the merc to provide false information saying that the group dispersed. We continued on toward the lab that Okeer was working at but kept running into enemy guards. Luckily for us, it seemed that most were rookies hoping to face Krogan like usually but instead faced a team of real soldiers. But they usually had the high ground and heavy weapons, so the odds were pretty much even.

We soon came into a yard where we not only found a large squad of Blue Son rookies but a Krogan. Thankfully this one was friendly, most we faced were trying to kill us. "Tex! Toss a grenade!" Shepard shouted as he hammered down on the trigger. I nodded, pulled out a frag and pulled the pin. I "cooked" it off and threw it over the high cover and blew the hell out of the Blue Sun troopers.

"Damn, I thought the M67s had a blast radius of 15 feet," Mike said.

"Mike, I thought I told I make these things myself, with some special modifications," I said tossing a grenade up and down. Then the Krogan walked to Shepard and leaned in close to… sniff him?

"You do not smell of this world. For seven cycles I have known nothing but fighting and killing those who challenge me," the Krogan said.

"Seven cycles? Tex, I think he just said he's a week old," Mike said.

"Guess they breed 'em full size and ready for combat, kinda makes sense if you want an army fast and quick," Shepard said.

"Yes, I like the others were breed to be the perfect soldiers. But we must've failed and the master sent us here to… redeem ourselves I think," the Krogan said.

"Breed troopers to be perfect and when they don't match expectations, toss 'em aside like trash? It's a wonder they haven't decided to rally and fight back harder than this," I said.

"No there was no training, I and my brothers knew war already once tank-mother gave birth to us. But the master seemed displeased as if we weren't true soldiers and he saw immediately," the Krogan said.

"Okay now that's fucked up. Hey Krogan know the way to the lab you were born in?" Shepard asked.

"Yes the path is here," the Krogan said as he lifted a heavy piece of wreckage, uncovering a passage way. "Follow this path and the place I was born should be there at the end," said the Krogan.

"What do you mean by 'should'?" Shepard asked.

"They might've moved it but also you must fight through many soldiers and you have a long way to go," the Krogan said.

"Great, now we just need to fight through those guards, should be a bit easy now that we got a Krogan with us," I said.

"You fleshy things move slower when big things are in your way. I've figured that out while fighting those other fleshy things," the Krogan said," I will stay and fight any that come this way." the Krogan moved over and let us pass.

"Great, close quarters combat with Krogan probably everywhere backing up their Blue Sun friends," Mike said.

"RUN! GET OUT OF HERE! THEIR LOOSE!" shouted nearby Blue Sun soldiers. They were quickly followed up by Krogan soldiers who started firing pot shots at the Blue Sun troopers back sides.

"Right Krogan helping Blue Sun soldiers huh? They seem like real buds, one side helping the other die faster so they don't have pain and agony in their lives. Real friends," I said with lots of sarcasm.

"Okay maybe they're not friends but there's going to be a lot of gun fights I bet," Mike quickly corrected. We advanced to a chamber and saw plenty of Blue Sun corpses.

"Wow they really did a lot of damage," I said at the sight.

"You surprised?" Shepard chuckled.

"No not really. I guess not," I said. Mike advanced along the right path with Garrus giving him cover while Shepard and me took the left path. As Mike moved up, he got rammed by a charging Krogan and was thrown into a wall. "Mike! Damn it! Ambush!" I shouted. Mike slumped down after the Krogan was shot once in the head by Garrus. But then got smashed again by another Krogan.

"OW! What the Fuck!" Mike shouted before passing out. I shot the Krogan and checked on Mike.

"Ah fuck, he's knocked out," I said as I rolled him over to look for any wounds.

"Any other injuries?" Shepard asked as he gunned down the last Krogan.

"What other than the fact he still is griping about getting shot by Saren?" I asked.

"Tex. Seriously here," Shepard said.

"Hang on then, let me bring up the bio comm," I said as a set of codes scrolled past and then Mikes vitals and a full sit rep on his condition came up.

"Bio comm?" Garrus asked.

"Yeah lets me check in on the whole squad even in combat. It's top of line and currently only available for Alliance Special Forces. Works for just about any species," I said.

"Well how's our pilot?" Shepard asked.

"He's alive but got some broken bones, yeah he needs to get out here boss. A broken soldier is the last thing we need. We can probably get the Shuttle to land nearby and have someone get him," I said as I turned the Bio comm off.

"All right then. Tex, it's your lucky day. You and him are leaving early. Normandy, this shore party. Need the shuttle to evac an unconscious Mike Jones, have Mordin and Jacob onboard to replace Tex and Mike," Shepard said. Joker replied saying the Shuttle was headed our way and all I had to do was head top-side.

"He okay?" Jacob asked as he helped me get Mike on the shuttle.

"Yeah got some broken bones but he'll be fine. See you after the mission," I said as I got on the shuttle. The shuttle lifted off and right now, Mike and I were getting a bit of R&R or at least I was anyway. While Chakwas tended to our old friend, I helped out John in calibrating the X-38's weapons.

"No no. that one goes there and this one goes there," John said pointing out my errors in calibration.

"I know but what I did was just some minor improvements in the rate of fire. This way the guns can fire more rounds per minute. Trust me on this, I know my guns," I said as I climbed out of the cockpit.

"And yet you're still using left over shit from the twentyith and twenty first centuries," John said he checked the engines. I made sure the missiles were I place and wouldn't fall off before anyone pulled the trigger. Shepard came back roughly an hour or so later. But instead of that warlord Okeer fella, he brought a pod with a Krogan inside. Said the thing was a full grown and combat ready Krogan. John and I got the job of guarding the damn thing with orders from Miranda.

We were still guarding it when Shepard and Mike showed up. "Ten-hut!" john said as we snapped salutes.

"At ease. Stand ready marines, I'm opening this thing," Shepard said as he moved towards the pods controls. EDI quickly tried to make Shepard change his mind but he still opened the pod. The fluid in the pod drained as the Krogan fell from the pod and coughed up the nutrients or whatever the hell the shit was. John, Mike and I formed a semi circle around the Krogan and before Shepard could order us to stand down… the Krogan grabbed Mikes rifle and tossed him into John. I got off a burst of ten rounds from my Thompson before it slugged me in the face.

It had Shepard up against the wall and asking for a name before we could recover and get our weapons trained on him. "Drop the Commander before we drop you!" John said.

"Hold your fire marines. The Krogan here was just surprised at the fact that three soldiers were pointing at him. No cause for worry," he said as the Krogan released his grip.

"My name is grunt human, has no meaning so it will do for now. But the question is how good is your clan?" the Krogan asked.

"I don't know how about you ask the guys behind you?" Shepard said.

"Huh? Hahaha. Clever clan, fine Shepard I will fight for you," Grunt said.

"Yes sir. Guess we can leave now that he's a squad member?" I asked.

"Yes. See you in the mess troopers," shepard said he left.

"Hmm trained your clan well for them to get their guns on me after being thrown and punched by me. I look forward to fighting for you Shepard," the Krogan said.

So far all that was left was the human biotic who apparently is a convict. Great, I think I'm smelling a spin off of the Dirty Dozen here. Ah well beats freelancer work though. Can't wait to meet our new recruit, not sure if I want to though.


	6. Chapter 6: The Convict

Chapter 6: the convict

Well now we're headed for some type of prison ship which harbors the most dangerous criminals in the whole damn galaxy. The reason why Shepard is even considering about going here is unfathomable. "Hey Tex, anything we should expect to encounter aboard?" Shepard asked me as he threw down some credits.

"Why are you asking me? Raise you twenty," I said throwing down some creds.

"Probably because you've been around the galaxy more times than anyone on this bucket Thompson. Wouldn't be surprised if you did some work on a Quarian ship," said Engineer Donnelly.

"Just cause I did freelance work before signing on doesn't mean I've been in just about every nook and cranny of the galaxy. Call," I said.

"So you've been on the Purgatory?" Shepard asked.

"Yeah. Once or twice. Those damned techs wouldn't know a fuel rod from a light stick if it bit them in the ass," I said. Donnelly smiled as the final card revealed that his hand of cards won the game.

"Then what can we face?" Shepard asked as Donnelly collected the credits he won.

"Hmm, guards, guards, guards, mechs, mechs and shield defenses. The Purgatory can decompress any one section at anytime. The shields can leave us immobile and the mechs… don't get me started on the mechs," I said. Donnelly chuckled at my comment.

"Come on Tex, I bet you'd be able to tear through those buggers all by yourself. Shields or no. mechs smechs. You're a biotic and cracking shot," he said.

"Yeah well, no one thought Shepard would be killed, look what happened then. Point is lets hope the Blue Suns are in a talking mood rather than decide to try and capture us. If that comes that, I'll just fill 'em full of lead," I said.

"Works for me. Any idea how we'll get Jack?" Shepard asked.

"Sir, you need stop asking me shit. I don't know everything. I'm not Mordin you know," I said.

"You guys in on the next game?" Donnelly asked.

"Pass, I got to clean my rifle and make sure Kasumi doesn't poke around in any of my equipment. And make sure the shields on my armor are still working. Who do you want me to get suited up for the boarding mission sir?" I asked.

"John, Grunt and Jacob. Keep your biotics handy, don't want you dying because you were trying to reload your weapon when a Blue Sun flanks you and shoots you," Shepard joked.

"Hardy har har. Just make sure we get the convict without getting killed," I said while leaving. I went to Grunt and found him fiddling with his shotgun.

"Unless you're telling me I've got something to kill, leave," Grunt said simply.

"Well its your lucky day then. Shepard wants you to suit up, close quarters combat with lots of enemy soldiers," I said.

"How many to be exact?" Grunt asked.

"One whole ship full of 'em. No shortage were we're going," I said.

"Finally some action worthy of my genes," Grunt said pounding his fists together.

"dude you've only been awake for like three days," I said.

"three days too long to be out of a fight," said Grunt.

"Worse than damned Russian and Turkish soldiers put together," I said. I walked out and went to the hangar and found Mike and John working on the Shuttle. "Mike! Didn't the docs say that you shouldn't be working?" I asked.

"you really expect me to listen some so called doctors with PhDs? I'm infantry remember? I fight regardless of my wounds," said Mike.

"Right which is why I had to carry your so called infantry ass out of the last mission? After you got body slammed by a couple Krogan?" I asked.

"Point taken. Why are you here though? The 38 is alright," he said.

"Shepard wants John to suit up, we're nearing the Purgatory and he, john, grunt and me are going aboard. And by the way what the fuck are you doing to the shuttle?" I asked.

"Does it really matter?" Mike asked.

"Yes I might have to fix the damn thing if you screw up the engine or put a hole in the hull or even put nonstandard equipment in it," I said.

"Fine I'm adding some upgrades. That satisfy you?" he said.

"In a way no. I feel like I'm going to regret walking away right but I feel even more that I just don't fucking care and you might end up blown the fuck up. So either way I win. I'm going to suit up. John if he blows up, take pictures," I said.

"You're funny. I'll be sure to remember that when you need an extract," Mike said. I walked to the elevator and took it up to the crew quarters and waited through the mind numbing rise of the elevator. _Got a state of the fucking art starship with more gadgets in it than NASA and we still have a bullshit elevator that go's slower than a damned snail. How did we come to this?, _I thought. The elevator finally got to the deck and I nearly crashed into Miranda.

"Oh sorry about that," I said. Even though I hated Miranda with every fiber in my being I still respected her as a fellow soldier. Even if she might slit my throat when I'm asleep. Ah well been there done that anyway.

"sorry, I'm just a little nervous on a couple things here. The Krogan and the deal with Blue Suns," she said.

"The Krogan I can see since I nearly became part of the hull. The deal I have to agree with you. Blue Suns ain't exactly trustworthy. But with us, Shepard should last a bit longer or might die faster, take your pick," I joked. Miranda actually laughed at the joke. "Nice to know you've got a sense of humor," I said.

"Well good luck Tex, bring him back safe," she said.

"Who? Shepard or the new crew member?" I asked.

"Shepard," she simply answered. She left to the mess hall as I faced palmed my head.

"Damn it now I owe Mike and John a hundred credits, each!" I said. I walked into my quarters and saw that Kasumi was gone. _gone to flirt with Jacob or probably find a hidey hole incase Grunt and John get in a fight about who's the better soldier. That won't end well, _I thought. I kicked the compartment on the couch and the armor slot slid out. I pulled on each section and stopped at the helmet trying to decide which to use. The cut open or enclosed version, not a good time to hesitate. I then decided to just use my own design, which I pretty much got from watching the old movie _Iron Man_, seemed like a good idea at the time anyway.

I grabbed the helmet and started to collect my weapons. I grabbed a UMP-45, Desert Eagle and a AT4, for the mechs. I also grabbed a four Frags, some C-4 just in case, as always, and a red dot sight for my UMP. John, Grunt and Shepard were already at the airlock when I showed up. "Bout damn time. Was going to leave without you," Shepard said.

"Blame goes to the elevators, fucking things are slower than hell itself. Ready for duty sir," I said.

"Lets go then. Joker we docked? I don't want to accidentally space myself," Shepard asked.

"Very funny commander. And yeah we're docked. Just be ready for a welcome party, they got a guard waiting for you," Joker said.

"Oh good just when this would be boring," I said sarcastically. We walked through the airlock and onto the Purgatory. Just like Joker said, a guard or rather, guards, were waiting for us.

"Welcome to the Purgatory. Please relinquish your weapons as this is a secure facility," said the lead guard. We just pulled out our weapons in a no way in hell way.

"I'm keeping my gun," said Shepard. The Warden walked in and asked what the problem was. After several minutes of arguing with Shepard, the fucker just let us keep our weapons. Saying that the facility was more than capable of handling us if we turned hostile. The warden, who introduced himself as Kuril, told us about how this facility was meant to keep the most dangerous of criminals in space where they couldn't prove to be a problem to any civilians or law and order. But he also revealed he used the status of some criminals to get the home worlds of said criminal to pay for their incarceration or he'd release them back on the planet at a random time and location.

The motherfucker was more of a criminal than a server of justice. Once we were close to out processing, Kuril left us to check on something else where. As we headed for out processing, we noticed a guard overlooking an interrogation in the next room. But the interrogation was really a Blue Sun guard beating the shit out another prisoner. "Oh you've got to be fucking kidding me," Shepard said.

"Looks like they're serious as serious can get with this shit," I said.

"What? Just small time compared to what his victims went through," said the Blue Sun guard.

"Is this even right though?" Shepard asked.

"We have our orders. We follow them," the guard said.

"Aren't you important enough to make your own orders? You have be sick of this," Shepard said.

"I admit I do get tired of this. Rarely ever gets us anywhere. Hey call it off, at least for now," the guard said. The guard in the other room stopped beating the prisoner and we proceeded to out processing. We met a prisoner who at first wanted to come with us no matter where we go. But he quickly changed his mind when we mentioned that we were here Jack. He told us everything he knew about him so now we knew to expect from this guy. We continued into out processing and as we entered the room, a tech told us to collect Jack through the door on the other side of the room.

But it turned out to be a trap. "I'm sorry commander, please drop your weapons and proceed into the cell. Your more valuable as a prisoner than a customer," Kuril said.

"Is this guy for real?" I asked.

"Maybe we can make a deal here warden," Shepard said.

"ACTIVATE DEFENSE SYSTEMS!" Kuril shouted.

"Take cover!" Shepard shouted. Grunt and john took up position behind nearby desks while Shepard and I did the same thing. My helmet quickly closed around my face with the same design as Iron Man's face mask. "Tex, any idea on how to get to Jack?" Shepard asked.

"I don't know! Maybe if we hit their Cryo room. Last time I was here I over heard they put their most valuable prisoners there," I said. I popped up and shot at several Blue Sun troops that tried to gain entrance into the room.

"Finally! A battle worthy of my genes!" Grunt shouted.

"Grunt! Shut up! Just shot the bastards not give a one liner!" I shouted. I shot at a Blue Sun engineer when John shouted something to Grunt.

"He means don't say a one liner unless it's a, proper timing or b, a kickass liner," John joked. Several fenris mechs tried bull rush us but were quickly cut down by our combined fire.

"Move up!" Shepard shouted. We advanced and turned left since the door we came through was obviously locked. "Shit more of them! Tex Frag 'em!" Shepard shouted.

"On it!" I shouted. I pulled out one of my grenades and pulled the pin. "one-one thousand, two-one thousand, three-" I said. I popped out of cover and tossed the grenade. It landed right behind the Blue Suns who didn't much attention to it. This proved to be a fatal mistake when it blew and killed all four of the bastards. "YEAH! Four points!" I shouted.

"Move up! Before they reroute more reinforcements our way," Shepard said. We moved into the Cryo control room and were greeted by a gun toting technician.

"Shepard is loose! I need backup now!" the tech said before Grunt blew his ass away with a shotgun blast.

"Sorry call was lost," Grunt said simply.

"Ok that was pretty good man," John said patting the Krogan's shoulder.

"Nice one liner too. Personally, I would've gone with 'sorry bills due'," I said.

"Hey joke later we still got to grab Jack remember?" Shepard said.

"right lets save the biotic," I said. We moved toward the console and quickly examined it. "This is Jack's cell, and this could free him. But it'll also free every criminal on the ship," I said.

"We got a better solution?" John asked.

"Be ready I'm opening the cell," Shepard said as he hit the button. Klaxons blared as Jack was released. When the cell opened we were surprised to see who Jack was. Jack turned out to be a woman.

"That's Jack?" John asked.

"Dude I'm seriously taking a vacation after we beat the collectors. Cause the shit I see with you is like a shit load of curve balls," I said. Jack then broke free of her restraints and charged towards her guards, three YMIR heavy mechs.

"That human doesn't stand a chance," Grunt said.

"No shit lets hurry up," Shepard said. Suddenly several massive explosions were heard as we used the door on the left to get to Jack's position. Once we got there we were in awe at the destruction Jack caused.

"Whoa. Guess she won," I said. We went through the gaping hole she left and couldn't believe the destruction she caused. "Yep I'm definitely taking a vacation after this," I said.

"I'll join you," Shepard said in agreement. We moved through the facility and were stonewalled by a YMIR mech. "Damnit! Tex, Rocket launcher now!" Shepard shouted.

"On it!" I shouted. I pulled off the AT4 on my back and aimed it at the mech. "Fire in the Hole!" I shouted. I hit the launch button and the rocket flew straight at the mech and not only punched through its shields and armor, but its chest as well. The mech quickly exploded and we mopped up the last of the Blue Sun resistance in the room.

"Come on lets move!" Shepard shouted. We moved into another room and were greeted by a second YMIR mech and more Blue Sun soldiers. "Fuck! Tex got any more rockets?" Shep asked.

"Nope. AT4's have a one shot one time only deal. Or at least they used too," I said.

"What do you used to?" Shepard asked. I raised my launcher to fire but came under fire from two sides which depleted my shields in seconds. A Blue Sun trooper fired another shot and hit my shoulder. The round pierced my armor and just kept going.

"Ah fuck!" I shouted as I fell and dropped the launcher. The launcher skidded several meters away and into the open.

"Tex! You alright?" John asked.

"I got a round in my shoulder but otherwise I'm just fucking peachy!" I shouted as I drew my pistol and fired over my cover.

"Damn, Grunt grab the launcher and Tex will walk you through how to fire it," Shepard said.

"I'm on it!" Grunt shouted. He ran out and scooped up the launcher and returned to cover before the YMIR could fire at him. "I don't see a trigger, how do you this tube?" Grunt asked shaking the weapon.

"First switch the ends," I said. He turned the launcher around and I continued. "there's a button on top, push it and the rocket will fire. Make sure you aim right first," I said. He aimed the weapon at the YMIR and pushed the button. The second rocket fired and impacted on the YMIR with the same effect as the last rocket on the first YMIR.

"Nice explosion. I think I'll keep this weapon," Grunt said.

"Fuck you. I built it so I keep it," I said grabbing the weapon with my good hand. Grunt looked a bit disappointed as I did so. I hooked the launcher onto my back and handed my UMP to Grunt. "Take this, I can't use it very well anyway. Not with my arm in this condition anyway," I said. Grunt took the weapon and cycled the bolt.

"Thank you human. I will honor your gift with the blood of many enemies," Grunt said. I began to pick off what Blue Suns I could with the Desert Eagle. Grunt used my gun to mow down the Blue Sun troopers. Shepard quickly urged us to move up as the last enemy fell. The part of the ship we came into was filled with lots of Blue Suns and prisoners. But the prisoners were losing and Kuril had decided to come out of hiding to meet us and the other rebelling prisoners.

He shot several in the head with ease with his M-76 Revenant as we entered the room. "Shepard! I could've captured you, sold you and lived like a king! But you're just too much trouble. At least I can recapture Jack and sell her!" Kuril shouted.

"Your nothing but a two-bit traitor and we ain't got time for fuckers like you! Tex! Give the old one-two to the face!" Shepard shouted. I tried to aim the launcher properly and lowered it as several shield defenses popped up to defend Kuril.

"Fuck! I can't shot him with those damned things covering him!" I shouted as we ducked behind cover.

"You got anything that can take those out?" john asked.

"Tex, has several C-4 charges ready to place. That should be more than enough," Cortana said.

"I concur. The C-4 is capable of destroying the shield generators. If Tex can avoid being shot or blown up of course," Monty said throwing in his two-sense.

"Yes thank you Monty. Please file that in a memo entitled 'shit I already know'" I said. I dropped my launcher, drew my sidearm and prepared to run for the generators.

"Tex, we'll cover you as best as we can while you set charges. Move it marine!" Shepard shouted.

"Yes, sir! Cover me Grunt," I said. Grunt popped up and laid down a blanket of bullets with the UMP. I got to the first generator and began arming the C-4. "First charge is set!" I shouted. Grunt fired the UMP once more but found that it went click once ten more bullets were fired. He them began hitting it thinking it had a heat-sink in the barrel. "Grunt! What the fuck do you think you're doing?" I asked.

"The weapon won't fire. There's no heatsink!" he responded.

"That's because it uses clips! Here, catch these!" I shouted tossing him some clips. "Hit the button, its near the clip. The clip will drop and then you just slid in another, pull the bolt and rock and roll!" I shouted. He followed my instructions and started firing. I ran toward another generator and slapped another C-4 charge on it. I quickly armed the charge and ran for the second generator. "John get ready to cap that motherfucker!" I shouted as I armed the last C-4 charge.

"Roger that! Got my rifle ready for that!" John shouted. I finished arming the charge and dived behind cover nearby.

"Fire in the hole!" I shouted as I clicked the detonator. The blinking red light on the charges blinked green once and a recording played.

"Goodbye," said the recording. The C-4 quickly blew and the generators were blown to hell and back. John took aim at the warden but then a rocket flew by and blew the poor warden to grisly bits and pieces.

"YEAH! THAT'S HOW WE DO IT!" Grunt shouted as he waved the launcher I left with him.

"Motherfucker! You took my kill!" John shouted at Grunt.

"Mine now," Grunt said as he got up and one handed the UMP I handed him.

"Damn. Hey Tex, how many rockets were in that thing?" Shepard asked.

"Thankfully only three. Otherwise Grunt would go crazy with the damn thing," I said as I got out of cover and shot at the last Blue Sun troopers. The firefight lasted for five more minutes as we mopped up the last of the Blue Sun troops. We ran to catch up with Jack and found her pacing about near the docking area. But she didn't notice the Blue Sun charging her. Shepard and I raised our side arms and fired. The two rounds quickly hit the Blue Sun and killed him.

"You alright?" Shepard asked.

"Oh great, you sound like a pussy," Jack said.

"Look we're here to help you," Shepard said.

"You show up in a Cerberus Frigate and expect me to believe that you're here to help me?" Jack asked," What do you think I am stupid?"

"No, I am here to help. Plus I'm putting together a team of elite fighting troops. We need to stop the Collectors and need your help," Shepard said. She still didn't seemed convinced. "if you don't I can leave you here or have my rocket launcher toting friend here blow you up. He's real pissed about getting shot just to recruit a convict," Shepard said. I drew my AT4 to make it seem Shepard wasn't kidding.

"Fine, I'll join your little crew. But you have to do me a favor," Jack said.

Shepard signaled me to shoulder my launcher. "Name it," he said.

"I bet you have lots of Cerberus files on your ship, I want access to all of them," she said.

"Normally I wouldn't give into the demands of criminals were I in your shoes, but it actually seems like a good trade," I said.

"Yeah it does. Okay Jack you'll have full access," Shepard said.

Jack smiled and said," well why the fuck are we standing here? Lets get the hell off this shit hole." we boarded the Normandy and left. I quickly got my shoulder treated as Shepard reported to the Illusive Man. I was working on my armor when Shepard's voice came on the intercom.

"Now hear this, Now hear this. We've got word that a colony could be under attack. Mike, Tex, John, Garrus, Grunt and Jack, suit up. Tex, we're going in heavy," Shepard said. I got up and started to get ready for my first battle with the collectors.


	7. Chapter 7: Horizon

Chapter 7: Horizon

Horizon, the largest colony in humanities pockets. Now it was under collector attack. Wonderful way for the colonists to start the day. I monitored the ships journey thanks to my A.I. With us about forty minutes out, I started to suit up. I grabbed my armor and the special helmet I had. My weapons would be composed with, an M16A4 rifle with an M203 grenade launcher attachment, two M93 Raffica's and a Javelin rocket launcher. I was suited up and headed for the Shuttle when Joker made the announcement that the shore party should head down to the Shuttle now. I held the door as Mike ran to catch up after having one last meal before the mission.

"Sure it was a good idea to eat eggs man? Probably going to be very gruesome," I said as I checked my suits functions.

"Hey if I'm going to die, I want to die with a full stomach," he said simply.

"Right, which will soon empty as we kill collectors and spill their blood on the ground," I said finishing my systems check. The elevator stopped on the engineering deck where Grunt and Jack were waiting. They got on and the elevator dropped to the cargo room. John was there waiting for the rest of us to show up.

"About damn time," John said. Grunt, Jack and I could only look at the shuttle and the "modifications" Mike and John had put onto it. Two mini-guns had been fixed onto the forward part of the craft and I could the lines on the side of the craft which more or less indicated something would come out of there. Also they seemed to paint flames on the sides as well.

"What the hell did you do to my shuttle?" Shepard asked as he stepped out of the elevator.

"Tricked it out commander. Seemed a little dull with just the standard gear on it. I thought we ought to put some guns on it. The flames were John's idea," Mike said.

"Well-" Shepard said about to chew Mike's ass.

"We're in a rush here. Let's come back to this later," I said as I boarded the shuttle. Shepard and the others quickly boarded as well. Had to wait for the damned co-pilot though.

"Least you left the interior the way it is," Shepard said.

"Hey just wait until I have more time. I'll put some leather seats maybe a radio or even-" Mike said.

"Shut up!" everyone but Jack shouted.

"I kinda like those ideas," Jack said with a smug smile.

"We'll talk about this after the mission. If at all," Shepard said. The bay doors opened and the shuttle lifted off and headed down for the planet. Once we were through the atmosphere we could see not only the colony but the collector ship.

"Oh you've got to be shitting me. That's a ship? I've never seen such a monstrosity like that, I mean other than the Destiny Ascension," said Mike. We flew low to try and avoid the enemy radar. But this drew the fire from the ground forces.

"Damnit! They're firing at us! Mike find us another landing zone," Shepard said.

"Hang on. I want to try something," Mike said. He swung the shuttle around and spooled up the mini-guns. The guns then quickly began to fire hundreds of rounds of ammunition. The rounds tore through the Collectors like a knife through butter. "Yeah! Fuck you mother fuckers! Eat shit and die!" Mike shouted as he strafed the helpless collector infantry.

"Hey remind me not to piss this guy off when he's in the Shuttle," I said to Shepard. The strafing ended after a second pass and even more ammo was expanded and put into the bodies of Collector infantry. Mike then brought the Shuttle down to the ground and we quickly disembarked.

"Mordin, your sure these armor upgrades will work?" Shepard asked Mordin over the radio.

"Yes, in theory anyway. Look forward to talking to you when and if you survive," Mordin said back.

"I don't like in theory. But then again I didn't join this outfit in hopes of surviving," I said. We moved through the colony and gunned down any collectors in our way.

"Tex! Cover, I'm moving up!" John shouted.

"Gotcha!" I shouted as I sprayed rounds downrange. John moved up with Grunt and quickly filled three collectors with hot lead. I angled my rifle and pulled the trigger on the M203. A grenade flew out and impacted in between two collectors, killing both. Shepard fired his assault rifle as Jack threw a shockwave at another pair of Collectors.

"Damnit we don't have time for this! We got to move! Tex! Got any ideas?" Shepard asked.

"Just one! Mike! We need some close air support here. Danger close!" I shouted.

"Copy that good buddy! Here comes the cavalry!" Mike shouted back into the radio. The shuttled came around and strafed the collectors once again. "Yee-ha! Take that you mother fuckers! How do you like when someone shoots back at you?" Mike shouted at the collectors. We moved up and saw pods scattered through the colony.

"What the fuck are these things?" I asked.

"Must be the pods the collectors use to transport the people they capture," Shepard said.

"Smaller than my pod. They probably beg for mercy or fight back in some way," Grunt said.

"Grunt if you were at Ferris Fields with me, you be singing a whole different tune," Shepard said.

"I'm a soldier, I don't sing," Grunt said.

"Yeah how bout we don't use metaphors with this guy cause he doesn't seem to catch on. You know since he's a Krogan was born like yesterday?" I said.

"Right. Lets just move. Collectors must be getting ready to evac with us banging on the front door," Shepard. I face palmed myself as grunt had another puzzled look on his face.

"What door are you talking about?" Grunt asked.

"Goddamnit. Grunt just shoot everything living bug thing that shoots at us and don't bother with the metaphors," I said. Grunt just huffed his reply as we engaged more collectors. Shepard found a new gun that seemed to rip through the fuckers like a knife through butter. "Grenade out!" I shouted as I fired another grenade with the M203.

"How many shots does this one have?" Shepard asked as he shot another beam at the Collectors.

"Just the one. Haven't really had time to upgrade it," I said as I ejected the spent cartridge. I slid in another grenade and fired. I switched back to the main weapon and started to give the collectors a taste of good old-fashioned lead. We moved further and found a disturbing sight. "Uh commander. Was this at Ferris Fields?" I asked.

"No. guess we got here just in time before they loaded the whole colony," said Shepard.

"Why are they not moving? They should be fighting. Not frozen in place," Grunt said.

"Collectors use the drones over head to sniff out humans and immobilize them with a single sting. that's why Mordin upgraded our armor," Shepard explained.

"They seem to notice us. Or at least that's what it looks like," I said.

"It just stops them in their tracks. If Cerberus got these things to work for them they'd have captured me long ago," Jack said.

"you must really hate Cerberus," I said as we moved forward.

"Yeah more than you know," said Jack. I shook my head and walked around a corner and spotted several Collectors trying to get into a garage-like place.

"Commander, we got some hostiles. Looks like their more interested in who's in that garage, or whatever the fuck that building is," I said.

"Right. Tex, you and John cover us. We'll try and sneak around over there and catch 'em in a crossfire," said Shepard pointing at a low raised platform with multiple supplies covering the top of it.

"Right. So while you're playing hide and seek we'll be over eating collector rifle rounds for lunch. Great, thanks a lot," John said.

"Shut up John. Just point and shoot. Not too hard," I said. I raised my rifle and started to unload round after round at the enemy. But one badly wounded then rose off the ground as Shepard ran for cover, and started to glow bright yellow. Then when it fell, it threw a weird pulse which knocked John and I back.

"'Point and shoot. Not too hard.' good call asshole," John said.

"How the fuck would I know that the things could do that?" I asked as I struggled to get up. I popped in another grenade and fired it at the powered up collector. The thing's barriers went out and Shepard finished it off with another shot to the head. "Yeah! Kickass!" I shouted. Then another collector did the same thing as his comrade. "Aw come on! What the fuck!" I shouted.

We were able to clear the enemies from the door which allowed me to hack it properly. Damned buggers were trying pry it open. I was rewarded with the red door control turning green and the door opening shortly after. We entered the door and Shepard noticed something out of place with the silence. Whatever he sensed completely flew over my radar though as he called out for whoever was hiding to show themselves. Worked when a scared as shit mechanic came out and began asking us why we were here and berated us on opening the now closed doors.

"What are you kidding? Those buggers already knew you were here way before we showed up. You had to hear them trying to break the door down," Shepard said.

"Yeah you're right. Hey do you know who's attacking? I've never seen anything like 'em," said the mechanic.

"Yeah Collectors. Ever hear of 'em?" I asked.

"Yeah but only through stories. Thought they were just propaganda to keep us in Alliance space," the mechanic said.

"Oh they're real buddy. Killed enough of them to know for sure," Shepard said.

"Damn it. I bet they're here because the Alliance set up those guns. Made us a fucking target!" the mechanic spat.

"First of all, quick blaming the Alliance for your shitty life. Second of all, they're here not because of the defense turrets because they've been hitting targets without such defenses! Think before you speak idiot. If the Collectors had been hitting targets like these, then the whole damned Alliance would be under attack," John said.

"John, easy. Stand down," Shepard said. John backed off as the mechanic continued on about the trouble they'd been having with the defense guns the Alliance. They couldn't fix the targeting matrix bugs and the power generator required was powered down from the EMP the Collectors detonated to prevent any call for help to go out. "Tex, if we can get to the main terminal, think you can fix the targeting matrix," Shepard asked.

"Yeah, but EDI can do it faster than me tenfold. Plus you'll need every gun you got to defend the terminal from the Collectors. Power build up on the scale to power up the guns outside is impossible to mask," I said.

"Okay. You stay here, we'll kick these bugs off Horizon," Shepard to the mechanic.

"I'll unlock the door, but I'm locking once you leave," the mechanic said as he powered up his Omni-tool. The door on the other side of the room opened and we exited the Garage. We moved forward and engaged more Collectors.

"Okay, so let me get this straight. We're going to restart the guns and defend the terminal from an entire army of Collectors," John said in between firing his rifle.

"Yep. Grunt any thoughts?" Shepard asked as he shot another Collector in the head.

"I got dibs on firing one of those guns," Grunt said.

"Jack?" Shepard asked as he popped out a heat sink.

"Just tell me to shoot something and that's that," she said as she threw a shockwave at a group of Collectors.

"Let's just get these guns online before the Collectors find out about the Terminal and blow up the Normandy," I said. We came to an area with raised buildings and found several unsuspecting Collector guards.

"Tex, take out those two over there by that pod. Grunt, you and Jack move up right after. John and I will cover everyone," Shepard said.

"Roger that," I said. I reloaded my M203 and angled the weapon to impact the Collectors dead on. I counted to three and fired the grenade. The grenade flew and exploded upon hitting the ground in between the Collectors and sent them flying while Jack and Grunt raced for the pod thirty paces in front of us. Shepard and John quickly opened fire before being knocked over by a shockwave from an unknown enemy.

"Ah! What the fuck was that?" John asked as he struggled to regain his footing.

"I don't know! What the hell? Oh shit!" Shepard shouted as he spotted a lumbering enemy made entirely of blue. "Tex! Any idea what that thing is?" Shepard asked.

"Stop… asking… me… this… shit!" I shouted as I fired my rifle in short bursts.

"Hey I've been dead for two years! I don't think Jack knows what these things are and I sure as hell know Grunt doesn't!" Shepard shouted. John looked at him with the intent of hitting him since he left him out.

"You forgot about John! Plus he's a fucking Spartan! He's probably been to more places than me!" I shouted as I ducked behind cover and ejected the spent mag.

"OK. Hey john, know what that thing is?" Shepard asked.

"While I'm glad I'm remembered, I don't have the foggiest idea on what the thing is!" John said.

"Ok now you Tex!" Shepard shouted.

"Ok now I get to bring you down. I don't know what that damn thing is," I said.

"Damn. Any ideas on how to kill the thing?" Shepard asked," how about that fucking launcher you brought?"

"Needs a lock-on and room to fire. Otherwise I'm blowing myself up," I said.

"Got anything else?" Shepard asked. I pondered the thought and grabbed something in my pack.

"What the hell are you three doing? We need some help here! These things are starting to advance and we're almost out of heat sinks!" Jack shouted.

"Let them come! I'll tear them to pieces!" Grunt shouted. I withdrew a new grenade and inserted it into my M203.

"Grunt! Catch and fire the 203 at the new enemy!" I shouted as I tossed my rifle to Grunt. Grunt caught it and began to align a shot at the lumbering target. He reached for the second trigger and fired a spilt second before the new enemy did. A shockwave flew out the target's arm and it exploded as the grenade hit it and all that was left was the legs. I drew my Raffica's, jumped over my cover and started firing three round bursts at every Collector in my sights. Grunt joined in and unleashed all the bullets in my rifle and rushed a powered up Collector.

With the last of the enemy dead, Shepard, John and Jack moved up to the door with Grunt and I. I hacked the door and it opened to a fairly open area. Then an old enemy we thought we had seen the last of after the Geth was defeated attacked, husks. I fired three round burst at the first and blew its chest wide open. Grunt shot my rifle at another husk and punched another while doing so. Unfortunately two more of those overgrown behemoths appeared and started to attack.

"Tex! See what you can do!" Shepard shouted.

"I'm on it!" I shouted back. I hit the release buttons on my pistols which ejected the spent mags. I tossed the empty weapons into the air and drew two full mags and held them in way so that they slid easily into the pistols as the weapons fell to ground. The clips went in and I quickly altered my grip so I could grip the pistols and started unloading a shit load of lead into the hulking enemies. Three rounds exited the barrels with each pull of the trigger and the weapons were quickly expended. The behemoths didn't go down though, luckily a friend in the sky saw our predicament and came to the rescue.

"Flying target!" Mike shouted as he unleashed the power of two mini-guns at the enemy force. The lumbering behemoths quickly exploded from the fire power and Mike quickly set the Shuttle down to deposit some more of the team. Miranda, Garrus, Mordin and Jacob departed from the Shuttle and gunned down more of the husks as they moved to regroup with us.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Shepard asked.

"Thought you'd need a hand. Had Mike bring the shuttle back to re-arm and pick us up. Where do you need us?" Miranda asked.

"I need you back on the Normandy. I've got more than enough men to hold this spot. Mike gives us an edge too," Shepard said.

"Sir, we might need the extra hands. Collectors are going to hit us fast and hard once we get the power going," I said. Miranda smiled at my unexpected back up.

"*sigh* Fine, Tex. Since you think this is a good idea, we'll divide into two man fire teams. You and Miranda are team 1. Garrus and I are team two. Jack and Grunt will be team three. Mordin and Jacob will be team four. Take up positions and keep your radios on incase one team needs help. Move out," Shepard said.

"Damnit. Why am stuck with the Cerberus fan girl?" I asked. Miranda shot me a look while Jack laughed at m misfortune.

"Because you backed up her decision to bring more support. You must like her so I'm giving you a chance to make lovey-dovey talk," Shepard said with a chuckle as he and Garrus took up position near a couple crates.

"Don't worry, I won't make lovey-dovey talk with you," Miranda said as she joined in on Shepard's joke.

"Tex, get the matrix started. Miranda cover his rear," Shepard said.

"Bow-chicka-wow-wow," Mike said.

"Shut up mike! This is a life or death situation here," I shouted into the radio.

"Sorry. Shepard set me up for the joke," Mike chuckled.

"*sigh* EDI start the power buildup. I'll take care of the targeting matrix," I said as I started to hack into the computer terminal nearby.

"affirmative. Hope you are ready for the hundreds of Collectors headed your way," EDI said coldly.

"Yeah. We're all going die. Blah blah. Just get those guns powered up," Shepard said.

"Affirmative. Powering now," EDI said. I hacked into the terminal and started to reconfigure the turrets.

"'Having trouble with the targeting matrix'. bunch of whiny colonists. This is mere child's play," I said.

"Why do you say this?" Miranda asked. She shot at a husk charging us while Garrus sniped a Collector trying to flank us.

"Before I was permanently reassigned to Earth, I was on my dad's ship. The guns on it were a bit buggy and I had to help reconfigure the targeting matrix. The matrix was ten times harder than this piece of shit," I said as I continued to input the proper codes.

"EDI! Update now!" Shepard shouted as he blasted another Collector into a corpse.

"Power is almost at sufficient levels. Just roughly thirty point eight seconds. Waiting on the new firing algorithms from mister Thompson," EDI said.

"Tex! Need an up-" Shepard said.

"Matrix is reconfigured! Turrets ready to fire whenever!" I shouted as I interrupted him.

"Thank you Tex!" Shepard said," EDI, Tex just beat you. Waiting on those guns!"

"Affirmative. Five more seconds," EDI said. And like she said, five seconds later the guns were firing.

"Yeah! What do you think of that Monty?" I asked.

"This will do little. The Collector shields are still up and I detect another Collector soldier attacking. Prepare for battle. Now if I had my tank," Monty said.

"Oh shut up. You're just… a… computer… oh shit," I said as the new enemy floated over us. It was a squid looking thing that had… skulls in its mouth. "Um Commander? What should we do?" I asked shakily.

"You really need to ask? Blow it up!" Shepard shouted. We quickly started to fire our weapons as my armor and Johns quickly scanned the creature for any vitals. It was projecting a barrier and had only a thick skin armor to protect it. Our rounds were wearing the barriers down but would do little to the armor. But then my thoughts turned to the rocket launcher on my back.

"Commander! Give me a few seconds! I've got an idea!" I shouted. I tore the launcher off my back and started to aim it at the creature.

"Better be a damn good one!" Shepard shouted. The barriers soon failed and the armor started to take hits. I looked into the sights of the launcher and Monty started to use the tracker in the weapon to lock onto the flying creature.

"What is that?" Miranda asked.

"A Javelin Rocket Launcher capable of locking onto any flying armored target and blowing it to the stone age!" I shouted. I got a ringing tone in the sights and pulled the trigger. A rocket shot out of the tube and started flying into the air. The creature dodged the rocket and fired lasers from its eyes at me. I dropped down as Garrus berated me for my aim.

"right that rocket tracked really well," Garrus said. He laughed but then he stopped when the rocket flew into the sky and came down like Thor's hammer onto the armored creature. "Oh," Garrus said in awe.

"Now I got dibs on that launcher," Grunt said as I ditched the launcher and stood.

"Sorry Grunt. Javelins' a one shot only deal. Maybe next time," I said as I drew my Raffica's' and put several bullets into the creature. The creature seemed to take all the damage it was able to take and… stabbed itself. It quickly vanished in a blue glow before leaving a bunch of ashes in its wake. The Collector ship then powered up it's engines and took off.

"Fuck! Look's like they're bugging out in hurry," Mike said as he brought the Shuttle around.

"Why not? They got what they wanted. Or at least half of it anyway," Miranda said.

"Cowardice dogs. Should've just accepted their deaths right here and now," I said as I put my pistols back into their holsters. Then the mechanic we had met came running out shouting at us to stop the collectors.

"Hey buddy. We can't do anything right now. They got your buds and our ship ain't outfitted to take on that ship. I'm sorry they're gone," Shepard said.

"Hey Shepard. Don't worry about him. Guy's just pissed because now he can't blame the Alliance for the loss of his friends," Mike said as he exited the Shuttle.

"Shepard? I know that name. You're some type of big of Alliance hero," said the mechanic.

"Commander Shepard. Captain of the Normandy. Savior of the Citadel. You're in the presence of a god Delan," Ashley said as she and Kaiden came out from behind several crates.

"Funny, more like a ghost now though," Kaiden said as he walked with Ashley.

"Oh for the love of god. Of all the good people we lost and you two get left behind. Screw you guys, I'm done with you Alliance types," Delan said as he left the courtyard.

"Holy shit! Ash? Kaiden? Damn guys it is you!" I said with a smile.

"Yeah. Nice to see you Tex," Kaiden said he stopped to shake my hand. Ashley made a beeline for Shepard though and embraced him once she got to him.

"It's been too long Ash. How have you been?" Shepard asked once they separated.

"'How have I been?' Two years go by and that's all you have too say?" Ashley said with growing anger.

"Sorry Commander but I got to agree with her. Two years? Now you, Garrus, Tex and Mike show up now?" Kaiden asked as he turned to face Shepard. I moved away and stood next to Miranda.

"This will not end well. I can tell already," I said whispering into Miranda's ear.

"No shit Tex," Miranda said.

"Why didn't you contact me? Let me know you survived the Normandy's destruction?" Ashley shouted.

"Ash, I wasn't even conscious. I've spent the last two years as a fucking corpse on a damn table while Cerberus resurrected me," Shepard quickly explained. That wasn't the right thing to say though.

"You're with Cerberus?" Ashley asked she backed up from Shepard.

"What? Cerberus? Shepard, don't you know what they do? They've got a nasty reputation for being extremely racist against aliens. Why are you working for them?" Kaiden asked.

"I'm not working for them. They're just funding my mission and actually getting off their fucking asses and doing something about the disappearing colonists! You two know me, I wouldn't be accepting their help if it wasn't for the right reason," Shepard said.

"Tex? You and Mike working for Cerberus too?" Ashley asked still not taking her eyes off Shepard.

"Two things, one we don't work for Cerberus. We work for Shepard. Two, I wouldn't be caught dead working for Cerberus, I'd rather be shot," I said.

"Ditto. We're working for Shepard. Plus what the fuck else am I going to do? No good work on Omega," Mike said. I looked at him and slapped him upside the head, Agent Gibbs style.

"Mike just shut up and just let us handle this," I said.

"And you saw what just happened. Those Collectors are too blame," Shepard said pointing into the sky.

"I don't know what to believe. We got reports of you being alive and working for Cerberus. The council thought that Cerberus was behind the attacks and now the Collectors… why are they even doing this?" Ashley asked as she shook her head.

"Williams, just look into the facts. Collectors started this after Sovereign was killed. The Collectors are working for the Reapers. Don't let Cerberus's history and reputation make you blind," Garrus said.

"We'll file our report to the council and see if they believe you," Kaiden said.

"You mean file your report, watch as the council disbelieves, calls it false and you just pussy out of defending Shepard because you think he's working for Cerberus?" I asked," Now I wish I accepted Cerberus's offer to join a year ago."

"Everyone on the boat. We're leaving. Mike get us out of here now. I'm sorry I can't change your minds," Shepard said with gritted teeth.

"You got it sir. Squad we're pulling out. Pile into the shuttle," I said. We quickly got on with Shepard boarding last and feeling a knife shoved into his back since his true love and best friend wouldn't believe him. "Hey Commander. You do know my dad can help with this right?" I asked.

"How?" Shepard asked with an angry voice.

"He's still an Admiral. One call and next thing those two know, they're getting the shit end of multiple shit sticks. K.P., Guard duty, Motor Pool, Garbage, lots of things they might get stuck with," I said. Miranda chuckled at the thought and Shepard's mood lightened.

"Yeah. You do that Tex, make them feel like Jackasses while you're at it," he said the shuttle pulled into the Normandy.

"Can do," I said. Mike leaned out to face Shepard from the cockpit and asked him something.

"Say, would this be a bad time to ask about those improvements I talked about?" Mike asked.

"Hahaha. One or two and that's it marine," Shepard said laughing. Mike smiled and began jotting down ideas for the interior. We went back to our duties when Shepard began to get the after mission report from the Illusive man. Now all we had to do was wait til the next assignment.


	8. Chapter 8: Haestorm

Chapter 8: Haestorm

I went down to the cargo bay to a secret stash of whiskey I stowed in the 38 to keep Mike away from it. Not after the last time Mike got into my liquor, daffy bastard just can't hold his liquor. I cracked open a panel on the side and withdrew a bottle. "That's against regs you know. Plus why don't you just keep it in the ship's bar in your quarters?" Miranda asked.

"Damn it. And I keep it here because well, Mike just can't handle liquor real well. So I keep in a secret place so he can't drink it and nearly die like last time," I said. I walked to her and handed the bottle to her. "Care to join me?" I asked.

"Is it poisoned? I know how you hate me," she said.

"Hell no. pretty much my only bottle now, why waste a perfectly good bottle," I said. She smiled and took the bottle.

"Thanks. Been a while since I had any liquor though. You?" she asked.

"Same, if you count two months as a while," I said with a cocky smile. Miranda chuckled, opened the bottle and took a drink and coughed a little.

"Pretty strong," she said.

"Whiskey is always strong. Good wake up juice," I said taking a drink.

"Will Tex, Miranda, Mike and Garrus report to the briefing room. I need to brief on the next mission," Shepard called over the intercom. Miranda and I walked to the briefing room to find Shepard waiting for us. "Where's Garrus and Mike?" he asked.

"I'm here. Mike must be sleeping," Garrus said as he entered the room.

"Yeah strafing baddies in a shuttle equipped with mini-guns is real hard work. He must be sleepy from his big meal he had earlier. Good soldier but when it comes to eating, make sure he doesn't eat all the food. We learned that the hard way during boot camp," I said.

"Why? He eat all the food in the mess hall?" Shepard asked with a chuckle.

"No, we went on a mission into the woods and he ate all our M.R.E's and we had to forge for nearly twenty days," I said.

"Oh, well I'll inform Rupert to put a limit on his food intake," Shepard said.

"So, before I have to drag his ass into the shuttle, what's the job sir?" I asked.

"Well, we now know where Tali is," Shepard said bluntly.

"So let's go," I said.

"We will but we'll have one hell of a fight on our hands, she and several Quarians are on Haestorm," said Shepard.

"Haestorm? Isn't that in Geth space and with lots of Geth around?" I asked.

"Yeah but fortunately only looks like one Geth ship is engaging the Quarians. So we might be in luck," said Shepard.

"So no air support from Mike? I heard that place is practically bathed in radiation, shields provide little protection," Garrus said.

"Heard right. In direct sunlight, shields are our only defense and they won't last long under fire, let alone with the radiation beating down on us. So that means we stick to the shade. Any kind of shade should protect us from direct sunlight," Shepard said.

"I don't like the word 'should'. and I'm guessing I have soup our shield generators huh?" I asked.

"Hit the nail on the head Tex. We're about three hours away from Haestorm so get cracking," Shepard said. I nodded my head and proceeded to my quarters to start working on the generators.

"Shepard are you sure you Tex working? He looks abit worn out. Maybe we should have Mordin work on the shields," said Miranda.

"I know but I've got Mordin working on his counter measure some more," Shepard said," Plus when it comes to upgrades with equipment, Tex sometimes does better than Mordin." Miranda chuckled and left to see if I needed any help.

"I'll go wake Mike and start getting my gear together," Garrus said. I walked into my quarters and grabbed my tool kit and cracked open my shield generator and started working on it to try and increase the power output and it's damage resistance.

"So, where are we headed now?" Kasumi asked.

"Deep into Geth space for an old team mate," I said as I continued to soup up my shields.

"The Quarian I bet huh?" she said with a smile.

"First of all, her name is Tali'Zorah. Second, you are right and we're getting ready to fight through a shit-load of Geth," I said. I keyed a button on my armor and my A.I.'s avatar form was projected onto the table. "Monty, I need some help here. I need you monitor the energy core readings, I might have to augment those as well. Damn, like a bunch of spaghetti in this thing with all these wires the way they are," I said.

"Affirmative. Update, energy core is operating at 100 percent. No change in power output," Monty said.

"Good. Now once I get this done-" I said.

"Warning, Cerberus operative Lawson approaching. Recommend hiding armor modifications," Monty blurted out.

"Don't worry Monty. She's probably on her way to eat something. We are near the mess hall. Or she could be on her way to her office. Also why would she come here? We hate each other, more or less anyway," I said not looking up from my work.

"You are about to be corrected. Cerberus Operative Lawson is right outside, carrying something with odd energy readings. Recommend firing two degrees left and one degree north," Monty said.

"Monty shut up and monitor the damn readings. I'll take of Miranda, let me know if the power fluctuates," I said.

"Complying," said Monty. I walked over to the door and opened it to find Miranda with a shield generator.

"Hey, I need this thing upgraded when you can," she said.

"Sure, come on. Monty, anything on the power?" I asked as I helped carry Miranda's generator to the table.

"Yes, it seems that the upgrade you preformed has increased shield output and even shield lifespan. I recommend installing this on all shield generators, maybe not Operative Lawson's though," Monty said.

"Why not mine?" Miranda asked glaring at the A.I.

"Sorry but I and the Lieutenant are not very big fans of Cerberus agents who-" Monty said.

"Monty, command. Offline," I said quickly.

"Complying," Monty said as his avatar faded.

"What was he talking about?" Miranda asked.

"Nothing, just old history I'd rather not relive," I said as I began to upgrade Miranda's generator. She looked at me curiously and mentally reviewed all the missions she'd been assigned. Then she remembered the mission that involved a member of my family who ended up in the hospital because she and Jacob enlisted his help to stop some biotic extremists.

"Your brother?" she asked.

"Yeah. Docs said that he was hit with so much singularities, pull, push and shockwave attacks that… he was lucky to be alive. Let alone walking. Now he's in the hospital until we can get the credits to pay for a procedure that could either save or kill him. Dad's already distraught because my mom is M.I.A from the Derasitis colony. I thought she just went somewhere else at first but now that I know that those blasted Collectors, I wish it was something simpler," I said. I finished the upgrade and gave her the generator. Kasumi had left sometime when Miranda entered so I was glad she wasn't there.

"I'm so sorry. We'll do our best to get this over soon," Miranda said. I swear we came close to kissing(something I probably would never do with a Cerberus agent, even Miranda) when Garrus came in with his Generator and Mike's.

"Hey Tex. You got time to-. What the hell are you two doing?" Garrus asked.

"Oh uh. I was just leaving. Um thanks for fixing my generator," Miranda said quickly before leaving. Garrus was just star struck at the sight.

"I thought you hated each other," he said finally.

"I blame Monty for this," I said as Garrus put the Generators on the table. I looked at Mike's generator and was disgusted. "Oh son of a bitch! Goddamnit Mike! What the hell did he do this?" I asked Garrus.

"Hell if I know. He tried working on it and well it turned out like crap," Garrus said.

"He can turn a Shuttle into a frigging destroyer but can't make his generator more powerful without blowing it up. Glad I made my own," I said to myself.

"Wait you made your own? Was it the one with twelve holes in it?" Garrus asked between chuckles.

"No, the one my dad gave me. Armor's based off some designs I drew up awhile back. Now if you'll excuse me. I got some work and I have a feeling Shepard will be in here to have his-" I said.

"Tex. Need this upgraded now. We're an hour and ten minutes away from Haestorm," Shepard said coming into the room.

"Damnit. You got it. I'll get started right away," I said. He set the generator and I quickly got the three upgraded. And cleaned Mike's as well. An hour later, we were in the Kodiak ready to fight.

"Alright, remember. Sunlight here is deadly. Stick to the shade unless you absolutely have to move in the sunlight. But move fast. That means you Tex. You're always lugging around the heavy shit," Shepard said. I nodded and checked my equipment. My rifle was an XM8, SMG was Calico M960, Launcher was and ordinary M203 on the XM8. I had several C-4 charges as well for any Geth tanks we might face.

"Hang on back there. I'm landing us about two klicks from Tali's location. Should give us some cover and short enough distance to get to her," Mike said.

"Just do it marine," Shepard said. The Shuttle landed and we quickly disembarked before the co-pilot could take off. We advanced forward and saw our shield monitor go down a bit from the radiation.

"Aw! It's hot out here," Mike complained.

"Yeah, radiation will do that with the planets atmo kinda disappearing," I said.

"How do you know that?" Shepard asked.

"Lieutenant Thompson was briefly assigned to an Alliance science team that came here and they were able to gather invaluable information about the sun here. Also several men died from intense radiation absorption, all because of a bet from Sergeant Jones," Monty said.

"Black Ops shit huh?" Miranda asked.

"You bet some of your fellow men to spend time out in the sun despite the fact that their shields would fail?" Shepard asked as we continued forward.

"Shields?" Mike asked.

"Oh you've gotta be fucking kidding me," Shepard said.

"Yeah, he bet them three hundred credits they couldn't stand out in the sun with out shields for ten seconds. They barely lasted three seconds before they busted into flames," I said.

"Warning, enemy drop ship incoming," Monty said as a Geth drop ship deployed several Geth soldiers. I aimed my rifle, fired a three round burst and took out a Geth soldier while Mike got the second.

"damn, you guys. Got 'em before we could even aim," Garrus said. Miranda gave an impressed look and we moved on. We kept running into Geth at every turn as we progressed toward Tali's signal. We came upon a couple dead Quarians and heard a voice calling for his fellow marines. Shepard picked up the fallen radio and responded.

"Sorry buddy. You're men are dead," Shepard said.

"Damnit. Guess this calls for introductions though, I'm sergeant Kal'Reegar who is this?" the Quarian asked.

"Commander Shepard. You need any assistance? My squad and I can be there in a few minutes," Shepard asked.

"Hang on. Switch to the frequency the radio says. Where are you? Forget that question. Listen I got some Marines nearby that are protecting Tali'Zorah and some data that the Admirals need. Those guys are my best and every marine here is sworn to protect Tali'Zorah with their lives, so long as one of us is still breathing, she'll be alive," Reegar said.

"Affirmative. We'll head down and assist and try to help extract-" Shepard said.

"Watch out! Incoming Geth drop ship!" Reegar shouted. And like the soldier said, a Geth ship flew over and strafed the Quarians below.

"Oh shit. Um Reegar, you're men got the shit fragged out of them," Mike said into the radio.

"Mike shut up or I'm kneecapping you and throwing you into the sunlight," I said cocking my rifle.

"Damn it! Reegar, your men are K.I.A and now the path's blocked by a stone pillar," Shepard said.

"Damn, alright you need to blow your way through then. We left some charges nearby. Should be enough to clear the way," Reegar said. Shepard looked at my pack and saw his ace in the hole.

"Actually we won't need those charges. My demo guy has the right explosives and then some," Shepard said.

"Copy that. (explosion) Damn it! Make sure he's got some type of anti-tank weapon," Reegar said.

"Affirmative. He's more than prepared. You are prepared right Tex?" Shepard asked.

"You know it sir. And judging by the slab, I'd say we'll need regular strength," I said.

"Regular? why not extra?" Miranda asked. That's when the entire squad looked at her. "What?" she asked.

"Um, this is Tex we're talking about lady. All his explosives are extra strength compared to standard equipment. So we're more than covered," Mike simply explained.

"Oh. Well let's go then," Miranda said. Shepard nodded and gave the signal to move out.

"Dude she's totally hitting on you," Mike said.

"Um kinda hard to do that since we hate each other," I said as we engaged a Geth Destroyer.

"Less talk, more clearing a way Tex," Shepard said.

"Copy. Mike I got an order for you, shut the fuck up until we get back on the Normandy," I said as we ran up to the slab. I got down on one knee and started to wire some heavy duty explosives onto the concrete.

"Tex, how much time? Those Quarian troopers probably don't have a lot of time left," Shepard said.

"Just a couple more seconds. You forget, I was in Demolitions," I said.

"Dude that was bomb disposal. And your team got bushwhacked," Mike said.

"Mike, that order for you to shut the hell up… I'm enforcing it as now," Shepard said," You talk without permission and Tex gets to shoot you." Mike shut his mouth for the time being after that. I tapped a button on the charge and watched as the light went from red to green.

"Ok, we're in business. Move! This thing has a big radius," I said. We ran for cover and ten seconds later, the charge blew and sent chunks of the slab flying every which way.

"Damn. Forget regular, that's more like double extra strength," Miranda said. Everyone then looked at her again. "What?" she asked.

"Mike, permission to speak," Shepard said.

"Lady, where the fuck were you when I said,' Tex makes the regular stuff look like cap gun shit,'" Mike said. I rolled my eyes and slapped Mike upside the head (Agent Gibbs style like on NCIS). "Ah what the fuck did I do?" Mike complained as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Come lets move. No time to berate others. Goes double for you Mike," I said.

"Man he's eager to get to Tali," Shepard said.

"What do you expect? She was the only one who wanted to-" Mike said.

"Mike I swear to god, you say what I think you're about to say, I'm killing you!" I said.

"Fine," he said. We continued onward and found a room filled with both dead Quarians and dead Geth.

"Oh shit. They got the shit fragged out of them," Mike said. I looked at him gave him a look.

"Show some respect to the dead trooper. They did their best," I said. We checked the bodies and found that none were Tali's. "Damn, where are we-" I said.

"Tali'Zorah to Base camp. Come in Base Camp," Tali said.

"What was that you wanted to say dude?" Mike asked with a slight chuckle. Shepard walked over to the terminal and started to talk to Tali.

"Sorry Tali but everyone here's dead," Shepard said.

"Damnit. This mission is blowing us to hell," Tali said.

"A lot more than that for those marines out there," Mike said.

"Who was that?" Tali asked.

"Mike. And if you're wondering if Tex is here he is. One second. Tex, get that door cracked now," Shepard said.

"Copy that. Mike, keep your mouth shut now," I said.

"That won't be necessary Thompson. One moment," Monty said. The door light changed to green and the door opened. "There you go," he said.

"Nice to hear some old friends. Oh and Tex, Reegar is going to chew your ass," Tali said.

"What did I do?" I asked as I checked my ammo.

"You're about a year overdue for the Fleet Marine's," she said.

"Right. I'll get right on that shit," I said rolling my eyes. Tali laughed and quickly informed us to proceed down further and just follow the dead Geth to get to her. We did and though we ran into a couple Primes and a small fleet of little scouts, we reached the security center.

"Tex, hack that control," Shepard said.

"One moment, Thompson-Lieutenant," a familiar voice said.

"Huh?" I asked. The control flashed green and the window opened. I could barely fathom the flash back to the Geth base two years when we saw the Geth Colossus. "Shit! Miranda get down!" I shouted as pulled Miranda down to the ground. The Colossus had fired a shot of plasma and it impacted just a couple milliseconds after we hit the floor.

"Motherfuckers!" Mike shouted.

"Lets move it now!" Shepard shouted. We moved down the stairs and met a lone Quarian shooting rockets at the Geth soldiers. "You in charge of this detail?" Shepard asked as we slid into cover.

"Yeah. I'm Kal'Reegar. We spoke on the radio earlier. Any of you guys Tex Thompson by the way. Been keeping an ear out for that AWOL son of bitch for a year now," Reegar said.

"Yo!" I said as I raised up my rifle and let off a burst of rifle rounds.

"So you're the guy Tali got the Admirals to accept into the Fleet Marines. You're AWOL as shit soldier," he said. A round hit the concrete and sent dust flying.

"Story of my life," I said.

"So what are we up against Sergeant?" Shepard said.

"Geth are near platoon strength. Not to mention that Colossus. That bridge over there has a sniper which gives us hell every time we try to move up. I got a hole in my suit from just that," Reegar said.

"What? How bad is it?" Shepard asked.

"Not too bad. The bullet didn't hit me, just went through my suit. Suit seals are in place and I'm swimming in anti-biotics. The Geth might get me but I'm not dying of an infection in the battlefield. That's just insulting," Reegar said.

"Amen to that brother!" I shouted. Shepard nodded and looked at me.

"Tex, got any surprises for the thing?" Shepard asked.

"Hell yeah sir. Still got enough explosives to blow it to hell and back," I said.

"You're the Demo guy?" Reegar asked.

"In a way. Mike, Garrus… cover me," I said. I put down my rifle and drew my Calico and some C-4. "On my mark… MARK!" I shouted. I ran out of cover with Garrus and Mike firing blindly to cover me.

"Was he a member of mental asylum or something?" Reegar asked.

"Not exactly. He worked as a Freelance Engineer until we picked him up," Shepard said. I aimed my Calico and fired several rounds into a Geth soldier and kept running. I primed the charge and prepared to throw it when… my knees buckled. The radiation had worn my shields down and the combined fire from the Colossus and infantry didn't help much either. The damned sniper Reegar had told us about got me in my knees.

"Ah FUCK! MEDIC!" I shouted. I just dropped into the shade and the charge flew with me.

"OH SHIT! Mike cover! That charge is live! Reegar, stay down. We got this," Shepard said as he ran for my piece of cover.

"Yeah like you're Demo guy handled that Colossus," he shouted back. Shepard got to me with only seconds left.

"Ok what do I do?" he asked as I pulled myself up the wall.

"Charge is good, just toss it at the damn thing. Should have enough power to tear through it," I said. Shepard popped up and threw the charge at the Colossus. The small block fell under the "belly" of the thing and two seconds later, it detonated. The Colossus disappeared into a ball of fire and so did several Geth that were too close.

"God damn Tex! What the fuck did you do to it?" Miranda asked over the radio.

"just blew it the fuck up," I said. Garrus used his rifle to pick off a bunch of the buggers and Mike also did me a favor by killing the sniper with his custom made sniper rifle. With some fire support from the occasional rocket fire from Reegar's launcher and continued fire on the last of the Geth, we cleared the last of the Geth in a matter of minutes. Mike and Miranda ran to my position and checked my knees. Or at least Miranda did.

"Yo, you were saying about Miranda not hitting on you?" Mike joked.

"Mike shut up. I'll have Chakwas patch me up so just help me walk," I said. They slipped me under their arms and almost dragged me to the door that led to Tali.

"How you doing Tex?" Shepard asked.

"Oh you know I shot in the knees and it hurts to put any pressure on them. But other than that I'm just peachy," I said sarcastically.

"good to hear. Oh and Mike relieve Tex oh his equipment. Miranda, you're his caretaker for the time being," Shepard said.

"What? Hell no sir," I said.

"What afraid of spending alone time with Miranda?" mike asked with a few chuckles.

"No I'm more worried about you with my stuff. I still got some demo stuff in the bag," I said.

"right. Tex just give him your pack with your ammo, MRE's and non exploding equipment. I'll collect Tali. Miranda, the shuttle is enroute now. Wait for it and get him on board. I want to see Tali's reaction when she finds him shot to hell again," Shepard said with a smile.

"Oh ha-ha. And with a Cerberus girl giving me aid… yeah I'm not inviting you to my funeral," I said.

"Bitch about it later. Come on, marine," Miranda said as she helped me walk to the now arriving shuttle. Reegar put his hand on my shoulder and stopped us.

"Take care trooper. Thanks for the help, even if you are a year late," he said. He patted my shoulder and walked with Shepard to greet Tali. We got on the shuttle and it took off and headed for the Normandy. I was in the Med-bay within five minutes and had to listen to Chakwas berating me about allowing myself to get kneecapped by a Geth. Tali and the rest of the ground team arrived a few minutes into my stay in the Med-bay.

"How you're legs holding up trooper?" Shepard asked as he, Mike and Tali entered the room.

"Good. How's Tali? She mad at us for being with Cerberus?" I asked.

"Nope. Unlike Ashley and Kaiden, she understood and joined up. So enjoying your private time with Miranda?" he asked with a chuckle.

"Ha-ha. Very funny. But she's all good, only turn off is she's with Cerberus. That and now if I do get a relationship with her, our rooms will be chaotic since we both have biotics," I said.

"Bow-chicka-wow-wow," Mike said.

"I'm sorry was that you begging to be shot into space or I'm just having a flashback of an old squad mate?" I asked glaring at Mike.

"Come on. You set me up for it," he said with a chuckle. I rolled my eyes and turned my head to Shepard.

"So what's the next job sir?" I asked.

"Your's is to heal up. T.I.M is working on a way to try and get us a way through the Omega Relay. So right now we just get the team together. Let me know if you need anything," Shepard said.

"Thanks, but already cashing in the favor Miranda owes me," I said. Miranda slugged me in the shoulder but playfully though. We were starting to tolerate each other with each passing mission, and we had a lot of missions. Tali looked at Miranda and me and could shake her head at the thought of us as a couple, me and Miranda that is.

"Rest up marine. While you're patched up we'll be getting a new member of the squad. This one's a doozy. Guy's a veteran Mercenary, and apparently he's the best there is even though his eye is a bit fucked up. Guy's name is Zaeed Massani," Shepard said.

"Ran across him a couple times, dude is one badass. Careful though, like his phsyc profile might mention, he can be hard to work with. Mainly the fact he's a lone gun plus he doesn't like letting people get to formal with him. But he'll be a good addition to the team, hopefully anyway," I said.

"Good to know. Take it easy," Shepard said as he left. Tali was about to say something when Chakwas injected me with a sedative, saying it was to keep me from blowing myself up when I would get up against doctors orders and fix the ships in the hangar. Now another mission is complete and but another is ahead as well. Guess that saying is true. The only easy day was yesterday.


	9. Chapter 9 Zaeed

Chapter 9: Zaeed and the refinery

"Checkmate," Mike said as he removed a pawn from the board.

"what? Bullshit man. You got to take my king not my pawn," I said.

"Au contra. You can't wage war without an army. I just took your last soldier. So checkmate," he countered.

"Dude, this is chess. Not a war. If we did play under such rules though, you would have to not only take my pawns, but all other units as well. So no check mate," I said. He smirked as he thought about and merely nodded in agreement. I moved my queen forward one space and said," Checkmate."

"What?" Mike complained.

"The way to win in chess is to provide your opponent's king with no way to move without being taken by any of your own troops. While you were concentrated on taking my pawns, I moved my other pieces to encircle your king. So, checkmate," I said.

"Damnit. Ok here's the eighty creds I owe you," Mike said as handed me some credits.

"Wish I could spend these, but the doc has made it clear I don't leave the Med-bay. So this sucks," I said.

"Yeah. Least I can move around. You got to have Miranda get you shit. Not too bad when you think about it though, gal like her bringing you stuff. I mean other than the fact she might've poisoned the shit," Mike said.

"Don't make me have Rupert put a laxative in your next meal or even poison," Miranda said as she walked in.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Chakwas said you're knees should be good now," Miranda merely said as she handed me my uniform. And good thing it wasn't a Cerberus uniform, just a miners outfit that I had… under my armor. Great so now I had two holes in the kneecap area. But the holes seemed to be sewn.

"Huh? Wow, been so long since I got holed up in the med-bay that I forget how fast it is to heal," I said.

"Dude it's been like what, three missions since you were last shot. And you got lucky, not like when you got your throat slit," Mike said.

"Shut up. But seriously how am I good to go… just like that?" I asked as I snapped my fingers.

While you were out I had the Doc put an injection in you which helped your bones recover much quicker and stronger," she explained. I smiled at her and gave my thanks, which is something I don't do since she the last time she put something in me, it was against my will and also when I was sleeping. "You're welcome. I also sewed up the holes in your uniform too. See you later," she said as she left.

"yeah she's totally hitting on you," Mike said once she left.

"Dude you're an idiot. She hates me. She probably only did that because I saved her life back on Haestorm," I said. Mike rolled his eyes and left so I could dress. I got up and noticed how there was no pain in my knees, and my injury happened only yesterday. _Ah modern medical technology, gotta love it, _I thought. After I was dressed I walked out to the mess to grab a cup of coffee when Shepard and Zaeed walked in.

"Tex. Meet our new squad mate. But I think you two already know each other," Shepard said.

"Yeah, we've crossed paths once or twice," I said.

"More like eight. Nice to see you again my friend. Thought you had a heart condition, but that never stopped you before," Zaeed said shaking my hand.

"Eight? Tex, what the hell have you been doing while I was a corpse?" Shepard asked.

"Stories for another time sir. As for my heart Zaeed, a Cerberus chick had a device implanted in me to help me out," I said.

"Cerberus huh? Never thought of you being one to work with Cerberus," Zaeed said.

"Hey I'm working with Shepard. I don't know why people say I'm working with Cerberus," I said sipping my coffee.

"Well, now lets get to business. Zaeed fill Tex in on the mission you and him will take on," Shepard said.

"Wait just the two us? Why do I feel like that I'm walking into a major shit storm?" I asked.

"Cause we are. The Blue Suns have taken over a Eldfell-Ashland Refinery on Zorya. Since I trust you more though, I just want you to come. You got more firepower than a squad of marines in these type of situations," Zaeed said.

"Yeah but a place like that, we'll need a couple more guys. I suggest we take Mike and John. Those guys are the most trustful men I know on this boat. Aside from Shepard and Garrus anyway," I said.

"Fine. Shepard, lets get this mission over with," Zaeed said. He walked to the elevator while I went back to drinking coffee.

"So what type of missions did you do?" Shepard asked.

"Sabotage, engineering, security, and one three month tour with a bunch idiot soldiers. Freelance work can be a real bullshit job sir," I said.

"Damn man. Well get your gear ready. I'll tell Mike and John to do the same thing. We'll hit Zorya in a couple hours," Shepard said. I nodded my head and finished up my coffee. I went to my quarters and kicked the bottom of my couch. The armor slot popped out and I quickly grabbed the armors' knee components. I grabbed my tools and started to patch up the holes in the knees. Tali came in about halfway through repairs.

"Tex? That you?" she asked.

"In the flesh," I said, not looking up.

"You sure you need to be up? I heard you got shot," she said with concern.

"I'm sure. Miranda and Chakwas made sure of that. Even got a doctors note just in case," I joked.

"Miranda's help?" she asked.

"Yeah. She had Chakwas inject me with something that helped my knees heal faster and make them stronger too. Sounds a lot like Johns procedure during his initiation into the Spartan Special Tactics and Assault Squads, or S.S.T.A.S for short. No idea who came up with that name though," I said.

"Yeah, sounds pretty bad. So you ended joining Cerberus huh?" she asked.

"Goddamnit!" I hissed as I accidentally sliced my hand. But I was more annoyed at the whole joining Cerberus shit. "I hate it when people say that. Tali, I signed up to join Shepard's Team. Not damned Cerberus. Especially not after my brother got stuck in a hospital because of them," I said as I opened up my med kit and got out some bandages.

"Sorry. I just thought with you accepting armor and-" Tali said.

"hey, this ain't theirs. This is Grade-A Alliance armor. Only reason that bugger Geth got my knees was because, I was taking fire from all over," I said.

"what ever. How come you didn't return my messages over the past year?" she asked.

"Guess I didn't feel like taking a job from someone who bitched at me without hearing the whole story," I said as I felt that old wound reopen.

"Come on you had to at least look at them," she said. When I didn't answer I could tell she was hurt. "You didn't? why?" She asked. This time Monty jumped in to save my ass.

"Lieutenant Thompson was experiencing a common Human action which is known as a grudge. It is common for someone to do this. Especially one as bone headed as the Lieutenant," Monty said.

"Whatever. You should have at least-" she said. Miranda came in to see what the commotion was she saw on the hidden cameras in her office.

"Everything alright?" she asked. She noticed my bandaged hand and said," Tex, why can't you got a day without getting wounded?" she asked.

"In my nature I guess Miranda," I joked. _thank the gods for this, _I thought. Tali got annoyed at the sudden "buddy talk" between us, especially since she knew about my hatred against Cerberus.

"Guess I'll leave you two alone. Have fun," she said with a huff. She left and I had a confused look on my face. I shook my head and thought, _I will never understand why gals do that. _

"How's the armor?" Miranda asked.

"Good. Just in time too. I got to suit up for a mission, especially since I'm going straight into a shit storm on Zorya," I said. As I finished patching up the first kneecap.

"We just got out of one. Why are you headed into another?" Miranda asked.

"Zaeed has a mission that needs finished and he trusts me more than Shepard. Got him to let Mike and John, the Spartan not our commander by the way, to come though," I said.

"Ah, so what surprise you got in store for the enemy on Zorya?" Miranda asked.

"XM8 rifle, M9 Berretta pistol, Colt 9mm SMG and an M203 Grenade attachment. Should teach those damned Blue Sun bastards not to take over a refinery," I said.

"XM8?" Miranda asked.

"Right you don't know, even after a while. I use old weapons. They don't overheat as bad as today's guns, good range, and nothing like using a twenty first century gun to kill a twenty second century shit head," I said. Miranda chuckled at that the thought.

"Why use something that we haven't used for generations when we have new age shit that take out an enemy with less rounds?" Miranda asked.

"I like the challenge in the fighting. Plus I owe my life to old weapons," I said as I continued to work on my armor. "Plus they look badass. And as the saying goes, if it looks badass, it is badass," I added. Miranda chuckled at my joke and then another awkward moment took over. I was saved when John came in bitching about something Mike had done.

"Hey Tex, Mike is really off the deep- What the hell are you doing?" John asked as walked in.

"Uh nothing. I was just working on my armor," I said trying to rid the awkward moment from the room.

"Yeah. Just making sure he's not blowing shit up again. He's a tendency of doing that," Miranda said," I've got some things to do. Um bye." she quickly left the room leaving the Spartan with a puzzled look on his face.

"Was I interrupting something? Cause I could come back," John said.

"Nay. So what the hell is Mike doing?" I asked.

"Well. Um it's hard to explain," John said.

"Well I've got my armor ready so, get down there and tell him to get suited. We got a mission so lets roll," I said as I began to don my armor.

"Mind if I borrow a launcher? Might need it," John asked.

"Go ahead. I'm taking a grenade launcher," I said. John walked over to my weapons rack and grabbed an AT4 launcher. "Now lets get down to the shuttle and kick ass," I said as we made our way to the elevator. We bumped into Tali on the way over but she wouldn't really talk to me. We found Mike still working on the shuttle and saw that he had installed rocket launchers on the under-carriage. "Damn man. Ain't this thing got enough weapons?" I asked.

"No such thing as too much guns when working with Shepard bro," he retorted.

"Got you there," John said.

"Whatever. Mike suit up, Zaeed will be down here soon. We need to do some type of mission for him. No idea why but we got orders from Shepard," I said. Mike knew I was lying but nonetheless still geared up. He finished putting on his gear when Shepard and Zaeed stepped off. Zaeed was ready for the mission while Shepard was just going give us some type of good luck speech.

"Tex, you're ranking officer on this mission. Zaeed listen to Tex. Goes double for Mike though. Normally I would give some type of speech here, but you guys are notorious for pulling through the heavy stuff like me. Provided if you could come back from the dead though. So good luck men," Shepard said. We saluted and climbed into the shuttle. Joker had gotten us close enough to the planet Zorya for us to use the shuttle. The co-pilot Cortez was aboard as well since he was the one who'd pilot the shuttle back to the Normandy to avoid it being shot to hell.

"Ok mike lets kick some ass," I said.

"Too right in my case," Zaeed said. I looked at him and decided to just forget about the thought. The shuttle quickly descended onto the surface of the planet. We landed and started to disembark while Mike handed over the Shuttle to Cortez. Cortez took off and Zaeed hacked into Blue Sun Transmissions. Unfortunately for us, the Suns had seen our vehicle land and take-off. Not only that but they were sending a patrol to the location as well.

"So much for a stealthy approach," John said.

"Never liked stealth… always preferred a stand-up fight. Stealth is a cowards weapon," Mike said with a lot of cockiness in his voice.

"Sometimes stealth is the way to go when you don't know your terrain. Like this refinery for example," I said.

"Oh bullshit. We just in the direction of their shouts," Mike said.

"We do that then we might end up losing Vido," Zaeed said.

"Vido?" I asked.

"The guy who runs the whole Blue Sun operation," he said.

"Leader of the blue suns on this planet? Wow, we could end their activities in one fell swoop," John said.

"Too right. Make everyone's days a little easier and better to wake up in," I said. We continued up the route and came up upon several dead bodies, civilian bodies.

"Damn. We got dead civvies up ahead. Must've done something to piss off Vido and his cronies," Mike said.

"Vido's style too. Shot in the back and left to rot. Damned bastard," Zaeed hissed. We continued forward and ran into a Blue Sun outpost. Had roughly ten or so people. Regular rifle-men, some mechs, a rocket launcher providing fire support. We mowed the mechs down easily, while Mike used his uncanny accuracy to take the launcher out of commission. But then they called for back-up, which turned out to be a couple assault rifle toting guys, three mechs and a flame thrower. Unfortunately for them they were bunched up together. I took aim at the flame thrower's tank, and shot five shots. The shots hit and ignited the tank, causing it to blow moments later and wiped out most of their shitty back-up.

"Damn! Our back-up is toast! Retreat! Fall back to the gates!" A Blue Sun shouted. Whatever was left of them tried to retreat to the refinery gates, only to fall under our combined fire power. We advanced forward after mopping up and scavenging their corpses for parts and equipment we could use. We came to a bridge and waited for it to unfurl so we could cross.

"Anyone who retreats without my say-so can kiss their pay good-bye. Hold your ground sounds like there's only a handful of 'em coming at us. Kill them without mercy," Vido shouted into the radio.

"Your men won't stop me Vido. We'll just blow right past 'em to you," Zaeed said to himself. We looked at him and had the same thought. This job was more about killing this Vido character than rescuing the workers.

"Sounds like you got one of hell of a grudge against Vido Zaeed," I said.

"You would too if he took your gang from you," he said looking at the refinery.

"you mean you were the leader of the Blue Suns? Oh I can't wait to hear this," Mike said.

"Yeah. I lead the troops, Vido handled the financials. But then he turned on me and paid ten of my men to hold me down while he pulled the trigger. Had the gun up to my fucking face too," he said.

"A bullet wound to the head? How the hell did you survive? Doesn't seem physically possible," I said.

"Rage is one hell of an anesthetic," he simply put. The bridge finished unfurling and we walked across.

"Well don't let your revenge get in the way of the mission. I read the mission parameters. Rescue the workers here, not endanger them," I said to Zaeed. Zaeed simply grunted in response and we continued up to the gate. We had our weapons drawn and ran headlong into Blue Sun ambush.

"Hello Zaeed Massani. Guess you finally found me. Took you only twenty years too," Vido said as he strode out into view with several more Blue Sun troopers. "lower your weapons, leave and maybe I'll consider letting you live," Vido said. I held XM8 tighter than ever and thought about what to do. Unfortunately, Zaeed came up with his own solution. He ran for a nearby pipe and started to hit the valve with his rifle. This prompted Vido's entire platoon of Blue Sun troopers to open fire. We barely got behind cover as the shooting started. "Go ahead and fight. I've got a company of Blue Suns behind this platoon," Vido said.

"Zaeed what the hell are you doing?" I shouted. The heads up display on my helmet was glowing red on one side indicating where the shots were coming from. I raised my rifle over the cover and started firing blindly with Mike's and John's rifles joining in. suddenly the valve Zaeed was beating on, caused gas to flow out into the pipes in the Blue Sun position.

"Burn you son of a bitch," Zaeed hissed as he shot at the pipes. The pipes burst and sent fire and shrapnel in just about every direction. The entire platoon of Blue Sun troopers was just annihilated by the blast, all except Vido. Vido ran back into the refinery as I approached Zaeed.

"Goddamnit Zaeed! What the fuck was that about!" I shouted at him.

"I just our job abit easier," he said.

"Well do you have any idea what you've done? That shit is volatile as it is. Blow up the amount in the pipes and we might blow up the refinery! What the fuck is wrong with!" I shouted.

"Refinery's got fire suppression systems. We'll be alright," he said.

"I'm more concerned with the lives of the miners in there you asshole!" I said.

"I'm here to kill Vido! So we're doing that now, even if it means sacrificing a few civvies," he said.

"Better watch man. Lets hope the fire suppression systems are working then. Move out," I said. I silently wished that Shepard and several of the crew were here to back me up though. This ass hole might end up getting us killed. As we approached the door we saw Vido go through, a worker came running out along the cat walk and shouted to us.

"Hey we need help! The fire suppression system is down and needs manual activation. We can't reach it. Please help us!" he shouted. I shot a glare at Zaeed and turned back to the worker.

"Hang on we'll help you," I said. Zaeed shot a look at me and was plenty pissed.

"We help these pissy ants and we'll lose Vido," he said.

"Well take John and move forward then. Mike and I will help the workers. I ain't got time to argue and I'm through arguing," I hissed. John nodded and went forward with Zaeed after Vido. Mike and I hopped over the beam next to us landed a level down. We quickly made our way to the door and went through. Fire was raging all around us. Thank god we went with the full body suits. We sprinted through the facility and ran through the walls of fire, our shields faltering with each pass. The workers trapped pointed us in the right direction and we reached the suppression system. I quickly activated the system and was relieved as water began flowing out of the over head sprinklers and put out the fires.

"Man that was too close. Kinda reminded of that old movie, Reign of Fire," Mike said.

"How so?" I asked trying to catch my breath.

"When we ran through the fire, felt that the first part of the movie when that idiot was saved by Quinn. Except there's no flesh devouring, ash eating, fire spewing Dragons anywhere," he said.

"Yeah. Come on we better help John and Zaeed," I said. We went through the door behind us and regrouped with our friends in the next room. They had done away with the Blue Sun troopers trying to stop them but were having trouble with a YMIR mech. "So much for a walk in park," I said. I ran forward and fired my M203 launcher. The grenade hit the bugger hard and it turned to face me. Mike fired a missile at it and quickly brought it's shields down. I quickly loaded another grenade and fired it at the now exposed YMIR. The grenade blew it's head clean off and the mech exploded in a fury of fire.

"Bout damn time you got here," Zaeed said.

"Shut up. We had a lot of fire to go through. Lets get this little revenge over with," I said. I walked passed Zaeed and went through a door ahead of us. We found Vido but he was already boarding his personal Gunship.

"Damnit!" Zaeed said as he fired his rifle at Vido. Everyone's rifle joined in while John readied the AT4.

"Sorry Zaeed but not today," Vido taunted as he began to disappear into the sky.

"I don't think so. Alpha, Mike, Foxtrot… Die motherfucker!" John said. He pushed the button on the AT4 and sent a missile flying at the gunship. Vido maneuvered but John had already locked on with another missile in the tube and fired. The rocket went flying and struck the gunship hard. The rocket's impact caused the gunship to fly out of control.

"Dude you so used an A-Team line," Mike chuckled.

"Ruin the mood why don't you?" Zaeed said. John waited for the tone on the third rocket and fired. The third and final missile flew high and true as it sped to its intended target. The gunship quickly exploded in a fury of fire and death as the rocket found it's mark. Zaeed turned to me and said," Thanks Tex. Glad you helped me."

"Don't get misty. You nearly got a refinery's worth of people killed. That don't bold well with me, so watch yourself next time," I said. We called for the shuttle and returned to the Normandy. Shepard quickly informed us of our next mission, recruit a deadly assassin on Illium. I can tell this won't end well.


	10. Chapter 10: Illium

Chapter 10: Illium

(A/N: This chapter is just taking place on the Normandy while Shepard recurits Thane. sadly no apperance of Thane til the next chapter.)

Illium, haven't been there for a few months. Probably should tell Shepard that Liara is there as well. But then again that was two months ago. She might a packed her bags and left. Still I should mention it to Shepard just in case. "Tex," Shepard said as he came up to the table with his tray of food.

"Commander," I replied.

"Anything we need to be on the look out for on Illium?" he asked.

"Why do you always go to Tex for Intel? I mean there's two other guys here who might have something you need to know," Mike said.

"Alright so you want to tell me what we might face?" Shepard asked.

"Uh it was a rhetorical question," Mike said.

"okay then shut up. Tex?" Shepard asked.

"Let me think, we got an old squad member down on the planet. Least she was there last time I was there, plus plenty of Eclipse soldiers," I said. I sipped my coffee and looked at the schematics I had drawn up for upgrading the suits armor and shields.

"What's that?" Shepard asked.

"Little pet project I'm working on. Trying to find a way to make our suits armor and shielding system better," I said.

"Need anything for it? Had EDI probe some planets while you guys nearly got shot up," Shepard said. Miranda walked by and sat next to us.

"That might help. But I'm not sure how I'd put it to use though. Not used to researching, just give me a rifle, tell me to increase it's power and I'll do that," I said. I put the schematics away finished off my coffee. I left the table and went back to my quarters and found Kasumi fiddling with my helmet. "Yeah I know the design is weird. No need to say it," I said before Kasumi could talk.

"Not that, but I do have to admit it's a bit weird. You take my mission into consideration? No telling when Shepard will green light it," she said.

"I have and the only way I'm doing that is if Shepard orders me too. I don't do too well in those type of missions. Like Mike and Grunt, I prefer to go through the front door with guns blazing, not sneak in," I said. I went to a small container and opened it to find my ammunition safely tucked away.

"Never will understand why you go with that type of ammo. Too bulky and space wasters," she said.

"Just do is all. I am thinking of converting my guns into thermal clip users though. Already got one reconfigured but haven't had time to test it. Hopefully Illium will provide that very opportunity," I replied. She shrugged and left as Miranda entered. I just focused on my work, since I was still trying to figure out my feelings for her. She just worked for Cerberus but was responsible for my brothers hospitalization. So now I was completely torn between my intense distrust of Cerberus and my feelings for Miranda. What a winning combo. I walked back to my armor and pulled out the chest and back portion and quickly began working on the shields. They had taken a beating back on Zorya so had to be more careful now.

"Tex, mind if come in?" Miranda asked.

"Why not?" I asked. She walked in and saw me working on the armor.

"still making upgrades? I thought it was as upgraded as it was going to get," she said.

"No reason I can't try to do it again. I'll either succeed or blow myself up," I joked. She chuckled at the joke and then once again, which won't die, another awkward moment took over. I tried to break the moment by saying she was all bad like I had thought she was when I first met her. But that only created a more awkward atmosphere.

"Tex. Hate to- uh am I interrupting something?" Shepard asked.

"Uh no sir. Just um having a conversation with Miranda. You need something?" I asked. Miranda quickly agreed and put some distance between us. Shepard just looked but then shook his head.

"Ok I get it. Well Tex, sorry to say this but you'll stay on the ship. Can't afford you to keep getting shot. And this might help you and Miranda get closer, not that you are already from what mike tells me," Shepard said with a chuckle. He turned and left.

"Hey Miranda do me a favor and remind to kill Mike sometime during the mission? Cause I think he's digging a grave for himself and it needs to be filled," I said.

"Sure. You shoot and I'll hand you the shovel," she joked. I chuckled as well as I continued to work on my armor.

"Monty, take a look at the power on the Generator. I don't want to electrocute myself," I said as I adjusted some wires.

"You mean so you don't get shocked again? If my memory is intact I am counting well over twenty-six times you have shocked yourself," Monty said. Then I recoiled as I shocked myself with a wire. "Twenty-seven," Monty added.

"Hahaha," I said sarcastically," Just make sure to remind me before I actually shock myself again."

"Affirmative. May I also state that Operative Lawson may want to leave due to the fact that possible incineration and maybe even explosions are quite high when Tex is working on his gear," Monty said.

"Monty shut up," I said merely. Miranda chuckled and left to check her messages on her computer.

"May I also state that she has become… attached to you Tex?" Monty added.

"What are you going on about now you crazed A.I.?" I asked not looking from my work.

"When we first arrived she expressed great concern to Commander Shepard about having a dishonorably discharged Marine with a heart condition may not be the best choice for a squad such as his. Also her anger flared slightly when she learned of our hatred toward Cerberus, I assume that she thought all humans should like Cerberus, considering their pro-human," Monty said.

"Yeah well…" I said.

"Also I detected a high yet concealed distrust toward her from you, when you realized she was responsible for the hospitalization of your brother, James. Now that seems to have disappeared and been replaced by a bond of… brotherhood between you two. I'm not sure if that is the right word to use though," Monty said.

"What are you babbling about now?" I asked.

"I detect that Miranda might have, what you humans call, a crush on you. Makes sense though considering how much time you two spend. I, like Mike, am surprised you two haven't-" Monty said.

"Okay I get it. No need to continue. Plus I get what mean, I think I like her as well. But I swear to god you tell her that, I'm getting Tali to fry your circuits. She most likely would agree once I explain to her about A.I. rampancy and how your technically overdue for storage or deletion," I said to Monty.

"Affirmative. Filing recent conversation under top-secret. Secret safe with me and my databanks. Also have received message from Mike and John. Seems that they have an idea for increasing the fighters payload but need your help. Your more familiar with the ships construction than them. I strongly suggest helping otherwise we run the risk of losing the fighter and maybe even the whole Normandy," Monty said.

"Good idea. Plus might need that extra firepower," I said as I smiled at the thought of more missiles and rockets to attach to the jet. I secured my gear and grabbed my toolkit.

"Typical American sense toward extra payload. More firepower to use to blow up more enemies or more buildings. Better than Krogan though," Monty said in his own way of mocking my nationality. wasn't new to me though, since he was based of the mind of a British Field Marshal who always criticized the American General Patton and with no Patton A.I. here, yeah self-explanatory from there on out. I walked to the elevator and stepped on once it stopped.

"Hey Tex, Monty give the message?" Mike asked over our private comm.

"That you need down at the fighter to help with upgrades? Then yeah I got it," I said.

"Nah, your brother, George, apparently he decided to help you try and avenge your old demo team. I think you know he worked with Third Echelon right?" Mike asked.

"Yeah he does, why?" I asked.

"Apparently he knew another Agent tasked with finding out where that Quarian bastard ran off to. Bugger was good at covering his tracks, I'll give him that. But the real money is that he's on Illium. don't know where but George told me to tell you to ask Liara T'Soni. Our old comrade-in-arms. She might know where he's hiding. I'll pass the word to Shepard so you can think about how you'll deal with him," Mike said. My eyes went large and my hands went limp once I heard that my brother had learned of where the traitorous Quarian was hiding. But that passed quickly and was replaced with anger and rage. I lost my whole damn squad to this guy.

Now I've got a shot to avenge all my guys. All my friends who died because he sold us out for creds and god knows what else. I now could feel what Garrus was feeling from when Sidonis betrayed his men. But the only difference, I've felt this way for almost three years now. Hopefully Shepard will green light my vengeance mission. I got down to the deck with my fighter and saw John and Mike already thinking about to put on my bird.

"Should definitely put some flames on this thing," Mike said.

"Tex won't like though. I think he's more of a skull and cross-bones kind of guy. You know like the 'Jolly Roger' pirates put on their rigs hundreds of years ago," John said.

"For a Spartan John, you sure like to joke," I said walking up to the two.

"Sorry we got caught up in trying out ideas for… decal for your bird," John said.

"Hmm, well your not very far off with the Jolly Roger though. But I was thinking more of the Spartan Insignia," I said.

"What? The eagle with the arrows and lightning bolts?" John asked.

"Yep. Now you guys wanted to increase the amount of payload the 38 can carry into battle?" I asked.

"Yeah. Just carrying four sidewinders on the wings, two bombs and regular ammo isn't enough. Well then there's also the optional four Hellfire bombs, torpedo and regular ammo but still. I think we can not only have the bombs and torpedo on but the sidewinders on as well. It'll take awhile," Mike said.

"Wait why are you asking for my permission? Shouldn't you be asking Shepard?" I asked.

"Yeah we're not big on paperwork, so we just went for the sure thing," Mike said.

"You mean you're not big on paperwork. I would've been fine with sending the commander form but you had to-" John said.

"Okay. Come on lets get it over with. What's the idea?" I asked.

"Remember the F-22 Raptor? It kept its rockets tucked away within its structure. I figure we gut the wings enough, we can add a turn-stile effect and allow the fighter to switch from anti-air to anti-ship on a whim. But instead of keeping the weapons on the inside, we just put it on the top part of the wing. Sidewinders on the top, bombs on the bottom and then the torpedo on the under carriage," Mike said.

"Might slow the bird down but hey I've never been one to say no to more firepower," I said.

"Who does nowadays?" Mike said. We quickly got to work on the adjustments and John started to wire some new fire controls to the cockpit. Mike and I quickly put together two missile racks for the top of the wings and helped John install them. Well the whole operation took us several hours and in that time, Shepard and the team he took out were able to recruit Thane. After blasting their way through a shit load of security troops to get to Thane's target a few minutes before he got there.

"Miranda said I could find you guys down here. Also said that you working on the X-38. What's the upgrade and how's it going to help?" Shepard asked.

"Hi to you too sir," Mike said.

"The upgrade is merely to increase the payload the jet takes into combat. Merely putting on extra missile racks on the top of wings so it doesn't conflict with the structure of the ship itself. Or at least it's interior anyway," I said.

"Good. Oh and we got the new member of our team onboard now. we'll head back down to grab another member soon. Tex, your on the squad. This time try not to end up in the infirmary this time. We're debating on whether to just designate a bed in there for you or not," Shepard joked.

"Yeah Tex, don't get shot this time," Mike said.

"Mike, remember I still have a pistol on me? And I'm pretty good shot with it," I said.

"Mike stop the remarks until we get back. Tex, suit up now," Shepard said as he walked off. I met Shepard at the elevator who told about his thoughts on the mission to after the Quarian.

"Tex, I know how you feel about losing your whole squad. I went through the same thing on Akuze, remember? Going after this man and killing him… that won't bring your people back," he said.

"First of all, I remember that you lost your people on Akuze but you went through that once. I went through it twice, Demo team and Infantry on Eden Prime. And I haven't decided on whether to kill the fucker or not. I just want to know why he sold out my friends. Then I'll decided whether to cap him or just wound him. 'til then, you don't have to worry," I said.

"Well, I'm green lighting the mission. Miranda will go with you, so will Tali and Mike. Just don't let your anger get the best of you soldier. I hope you make the right decision on the mission," Shepard said as the elevator arrived. We stepped on and hit our respected floors.

"Don't worry about me sir. Like I said, I just want to know why. But thanks for your concern," I said. The elevator slowly climbed but I reached my floor after several minutes. I stepped off and headed for my quarters. I was finally going to get retribution for my friends. I suited up and grabbed my weapons. Now all I had to do was fly down, ask Liara where he was and then face the asshole. Simple but as always easier said than done.


	11. Chapter 11: Vengeance

Chapter 11: Vengeance

(A/N: Couldn't think or decide on a personal mission for my guy. Kinda went with one like Garrus's mission. Hope you enjoy.)

"_Hold the line Marines! Tex get that thing disarmed now!" the Lieutenant shouted._

"_Just three more minutes! Hey Zoran, give me a hand! I can't disarm this thing with them shooting at me. Lay down some cover fire!" I shouted at the lone Quarian in our squad._

"_No," he said._

"_What! Zor, we are going to fucking die unless I get this thing turned off. The damned Batarians switched out the training bomb for a live one. Cover me Damnit!" I shouted._

"_I can't. I'm sorry," Zoran said as he got up and ran._

"_Zoran! Get your ass back here! Marine get his-" the lieutenant said. A bullet to the head ended his short-lived career._

"_El-Tee! Oh fuck he's dead! Lets get the fuck out of here!" a private said._

"_Yeah no shit!" said the man next to him._

"_Hang on. Just give me a couple more minutes. I don't get this thing turned off, we're all dead," I said._

"_We're gonna die unless we evac Tex! The lieutenant is dead. All troops-" said the Sergeant said. He took another round to the chest._

"_Sarge! Oh fuck! Rodriguez help him. Tex hurry up man we're gonna get killed!" Joey said._

"_Fall back! Fall-" the corporal said. Multiple rounds cut into his stomach._

"_Tex! Tex!" said a new voice. _

"Huh?" I asked.

"I know my flying isn't very exciting but you don't have to fall asleep," Mike said.

"Sorry, glad you woke me up though," I said.

"Why? Dreaming that you married Miranda and had a kid with her? But then a super Reaper came and killed you?" Mike joked.

"No reliving a terrible event. When my demo team was killed," I said.

"oh sorry dude. I think I'll shut up now," Mike said.

"Liara said the Quarian should be there Mike. Land there," Miranda said pointing at a spot were we could land without notice.

"Tex, are you sure you want to go through this?" Tali asked. She thought I was going to kill the Quarian who set up me and my squad.

"Yes. I'm damn sure," I said. I could feel all my anger boiling up, despite my attempts to calm myself. We stepped out of the shuttle and entered the elevator nearby. One of Liara's agents was waiting to lead us closer to the target.

"Come on. If you want to grab the guy before your window's out. We have to hurry," said the agent.

"I don't plan on delaying," I said. The elevator quickly descended and we exited onto the main floor. The place we were going to try and find the Quarian seemed to be like the trading floor back towards the ship. Only the place was… busier.

"Tex, I know what you're going through and all but come on dude. Killing an innocent man? That's not you man. I'll help you and all but you make an attempt to kill him, I'll stop you," Mike said. I knew he wasn't bullshitting. Mike can be somewhat of an ass but when it came to the lives of innocents, he didn't bullshit.

"Understood my friend. But I didn't come to spill his blood. Like I told on the ship, I want to know why he felt he had to spill the blood of my friends," I said. We walked forward while the agent hung back, he was just a guide to floor not a hunter. The only good thing about the search was there were few Quarians, bad thing… any one of them could be Zoran.

"Tex, it's like finding a needle in a goddamn hay stack," Mike said.

"Five o'clock, to the right," I said. I knew how Zoran looked and moved toward him.

"Hang on, we want to get to him, let me," Tali said as she stopped me. I merely nodded and moved to a new vantage point and activated our comms.

"You know she's going to warn him right?" Mike said.

"Exactly. I was counting on that too. She knows there's not a lot of places for me other than here to shoot him without being notice. She's all that stands between him and a bullet. I just want the truth remember?" I retorted. _But I also wanted to avenge all I lost as well, _I thought.

"Hey, you Zoran?" Tali asked. I had my eyes on Zoran and set up my rifle.

"Yeah but don't say that name. Alliance kinda out to get me," he said.

"Not just the Alliance. A friend of mine, in fact I'm all that stands between you a bullet," she said. I smiled and thought, _just like I thought. _

"What? Who?" he asked.

"Remember that demo crew from the Alliance you worked with? The ambush?" she asked. Zoran mentally went back to the ambush and remembered as he watched the squad torn apart by Batarians. The lone demo man trying to shut down a bomb.

"Yes, I heard only one lived," he said begrudgingly.

"Well he's here, and he's got a rifle trained on your head," Tali said. Zoran quickly started to look around but Tali stopped him. "Hey I just told I'm the only thing between you and a bullet. He wont fire so long as I'm in the shot. Maybe not at all if you explain why sold out his team," Tali continued.

"That's all he wants? The truth? No he wants to end me, don't blame him though. Is he listening?" Zoran asked.

"Yep our comms. Are on right now he's heard the entire conversation. So explain to him why he lost his squad," Tali said.

"Okay. The Batarians heard a whisper about you going into the field but your father kept the mission on the QT. they heard I was going though and found me. They made me tell them where the mission would take place. The team size, bomb, location, time everything," he said. I listened and held back the urge to tell Tali move. "They said they had info on the fleet, the Flotilla. Said they'd attack it and kill everyone if I didn't cooperate," he said.

I looked from my scope and my anger kinda died. _He was protecting his people, _I thought. "And then I found out it was a bluff but your command didn't listen when I told them-" he said.

"Wait what? You told my command that you gave information on a top secret training exercise to a Batarian extremist group and they didn't listen?" I asked through Tali.

"Yes they thought I was joking. If you still want revenge… go ahead and take it. I… I just want it to end. I failed and I ran, now I face my fate," he said. Mike knew me though, I said I wanted info and I got it. My finger tense on the trigger but relaxed as I gave up on shooting him.

"Tali, tell him I'm letting him go. But the next time I hear from him, he better have owned up for him mistake," I said.

"he's letting you live. But you have to own up for your mistake," she said with barely controlled joy.

"Really? Keelah, I imagined this would play out with him pulling the trigger and killing me," he said. I walked up and spooked the hell out of him.

"I just wanted the truth Zoran. Had I known what you were risking, I'dve made the same decision. Good luck in paying off your debt," I said.

"Thank you, Corporal, if that's your rank though," he said.

"It's just Tex now. I was discharged from the military," I said.

"Oh well thank you for the second chance," he said and left. The rest of the squad regrouped and everyone looked somewhat surprise, well not Mike anyway.

"What?" I asked.

"Tex you let the guy who killed your team go," Miranda said.

"You weren't there though. Besides better to forgive than let the anger burn me up," I said.

"I'm sure I heard that in a movie somewhere," Mike said. We looked at him and he said," What?"

"Way to kill the mood dude. But at least you don't do that to much," I said. We left and rejoined the rest of the crew on the Normandy. Now with that out of the way, I can focus on the mission more.

(A/N: hope you liked it and if you didn't sorry but that's all I could decide on. Next is… the Justicar. Also Thane will make an appearance in case you're wondering)


	12. Chapter 12: The Justicar

Chapter 12: The Justicar

"Hey Shepard why is it every time you decided to go after someone incredibly dangerous you always ask us to come along?" Mike asked.

"Great Mike complaining. Eighth time this week. Shepard recommend taping his mouth may require massive amount of tape but the peace it will give… worth it," Mordin said.

"I agree doc. Tex shut the pilot up so he doesn't kill us," Shepard said.

"Sure chief. Hey man shut up or we'll be on KP duty before you can 'Guantanamo Bay'" I said.

"Oh come on what can Shepard do? We're already expecting to die. What's he going to do have us go in through every door first from on?" Mike joked.

"Good idea Mike. Tex, you and Mike are our breach and clear men," Shepard said.

"Mike, I'm going to kill you, slowly," I said.

"Like I care. We're going to die anyway while on Shepard's team," Mike said as he banked left.

"Shepard is it normal for the pilot to complain this much?" Thane asked.

"Normal pilots? No. Mike? Yes, he's always complaining about something," Shepard said.

"You're lucky though Thane, you may have to hear this shit on a mission… I have to live with that," I said.

"Yep, he has too. Plus I can do this!" he said. He quickly made the shuttle do a barrel roll.

"Oh shit!" we shouted. When the shuttle straightened out, Shepard quickly berated Mike.

"Mike never do that again. Especially with me in here! Maybe if Tex is here with Miranda," he said.

"Yeah while they're kissing and then I get my ass whupped for fucking up the mood," he said. Shepard chuckled as did Thane but Mordin actually laughed.

"Man shut up. What makes you think I'd hook up with Miranda?" I asked.

"Dude, we've been the signs she's been putting out. You cant read them then you one sorry ass mother fucker," Mike said.

"Hey pilot. We're going to overshoot our landing spot over there by the way. So if you could-" Shepard said. Mike quickly corrected his course and sent us back toward the landing zone. "Thank you pilot," he said.

"Yeah yeah. Touchdown in five, four, three, two, one. Thank you for flying Air Jones," he said. The shuttle landed and we quickly disembarked. "Oh hey, watch this," Mike said. He turned and hit a button on his Omni-tool and the shuttle beeped.

"Oh please tell me I did not just hear a car alarm," I said.

"Yep," said Mike.

"Mike stop making unauthorized upgrades to my ships," Shepard said.

"What? Come on, this way no one can take our ride without me knowing," Mike said.

"Oh great so when I decide to crash in the damn thing, not only will the most annoying sound ever go off but I may end up being shot at?" I asked.

"Yep so you need a place to hide with Miranda-" Mike said.

"Oh for the love of god would you please shut up? Commander permission to shoot him in the leg?" I asked.

"No I'm saving him in case we need him as a bullet shield," he said. We walked into a nearby police station and watched as several officers dealt with a Volus merchant.

"Boy he looks pissed," Mike said.

"Yeah. Looks like their holding him until they can fully investigate some kind of crime," I said.

"How do you know that?" Shepard asked. Mordin, Thane and I pointed to the crime 'tape' and two officers guarding the door. "Oh that's how," he said.

"That's a crime scene cordon? I was expecting a bunch more officers, media and even a cop named Riggs," Mike said.

"Yeah he's seen Lethal Weapon one to many times," I said.

"Hey where do you think I get my catch phrases and combat moves?" he said.

"I fucking hate you," I said.

"I know buddy I know," he said. We walked up to the detective in charge and left Shepard to the talking. After all he was the commander.

"Alright I talked to the detective. She'll let us through but our orders to just collect the Justicar. Nothing else. So no touching anything, Mike that goes double for you," Shepard said.

"What? I can't move any evidence that might help?" he asked jokingly.

"No of course not. Now stop and lets get a move on," Shepard said. We headed to the door with the crime tape and were allowed to pass. As we moved forward, with me and Mike in front, we eventually came across and team of mercenaries. "Tex what do you see?" Shepard asked.

"Got a full squad of buggers. Five LOKI's, couple dog bots and the rest are regular infantry. Could be a biotic in the mix or something but won know til we engage them," I said.

"Good. Mike, Tex, do what you do best," he said.

"I was hoping you would say something else but… ah fuck it," Mike said.

"Yeah Fuck it," I agreed as I charged with a burst of speed courtesy of my biotics and knocked a merc off her feet. I fired my rifle at a LOKI and took its head off. Mike quickly joined in with a barrage of machine gun fire. This sent me ducking behind cover. "Hey Mike next time tell me when you're going to shot the shit out of a target so I can get out of the way," I said.

"Hey gun shots are warning enough buddy. Plus I wasn't aiming at you," he said smugly. Shepard, Thane and Mordin opened fire as well. Several LOKI's tried to fire but got their heads taken off by my XM8. Within minutes all were dead and/or taken apart.

"Okay people are dead," I said.

"Dude you really had to steal that line from Wolverine?" Mike asked.

"Shut up both of you. We need to help out the Justicar now," Shepard said. We walked through the door before us and watched as a merc was thrown clear across the room.

"OR maybe we can just sit back and watch. Cause it looks like this Justicar chick has everything under control," Mike said.

"Yeah, lets do that. I don't want to piss off the Asari with incredible biotics who apparently kicked mercenary ass in here. And was outnumbered too," I said.

"How the hell do you know?" Shepard asked.

"Like I said before, I've been a few places while you were still a corpse and Mike here was god knows where," I said. We moved closer to the raised platform and watched as another Asari faced off with the Justicar with only a pistol.

"Those were my best troops!" the Asari said in a mix of astonishment and horror.

"Tell me what I want and I'll spare you," the Justicar said calmly.

"You know I can't do that. She'll kill me if I tell you," the Asari merc said. The Justicar tossed the merc off the platform and used her biotic powers to 'float' closer to the downed merc and put her boot on the mercs neck.

"Tell me now!" the Justicar demanded.

"Go to hell!" the merc said through strained teeth. The Justicar sighed, knowing she wasn't going to get anything from the merc.

"May you find peace in the embrace of the goddess," she said. She then twisted her foot and broke the mercs neck.

"Goddamn. That's a cold move. I don't even think Jack would do that," Mike said.

"neither do I. hey you Samara?" Shepard asked.

"Yes. I am, who are?" Samara asked.

"Name's Shepard. These men, their part of my crew. I'm putting together a team of elite soldiers, scientists and mercs. And you're the Justicar I need to complete the list," Shepard said.

"Maybe I will join you. But I cannot at the moment. I need to complete my mission before I join you," Samara said.

"I wish you'd just go with the human, Justicar. I'm under orders to take you into custody if you won't leave. I'm sorry," the Detective said as she walked in.

"Crap. I had a feeling this was going to happen," Mike said.

"What? That the cop would follow a bullshit order or that the Justicar wouldn't come with us?" I asked.

"Both. I'm betting," Mordin said.

"Yep. By the way can I go back to the ship? I think I left the pot on," Mike said.

"Again? Monty what's the count?" I asked.

"Roughly three hundred and eight times," Monty said.

"Wait how many times?" Thane asked.

"Three hundred and eight times. Mike was not the most reliable man in the army unit we were assigned to," Monty said. Shepard, Thane, Mordin looked at Mike and just stared at him.

"What?" he asked.

"How can you leave something like that on and do over three hundred times?" Shepard asked.

"Um I keep forgetting?" he tried.

"It's true, I never thought a person could forget like that until I went to Blood Gulch. Some bullshit times too," I said. They just shook their heads and began wondering how a man can forget to turn the stove off.

"Tex remind me never to have Mike help with cooking," Shepard said.

"Hey actually Mike makes some good shit, what he lacks in most simple things, he makes up for in superb cooking," I said.

"Yeah I even entered in a cooking contest once, came in second and a half place," he said.

"Half? How the hell do you get half?" Shepard asked.

"Somehow he found a way. But let's get back to trying to recruit the Justicar and saving an entire police department full of people," I said.

"I will not go unless I can learn of the ship that was used to smuggle the criminal I seek off world. If I can learn this then I will go," she said.

"Okay. Tex, Mike, how do you feel about a little spying?" Shepard said.

"By spying you actually mean, we go in first to a hostile facility filled with bad guys and try to absorb as much bullets as we can?" I asked.

"Yep," he said.

"Ah son of a bitch. This is going to suck," Mike said.

"Yeah for me anyway," I said.

"What do you mean for you? I'm still going to get shot at," Mike said.

"Yeah after you use me for a human shield," I said.

"Enough. Tex, you and Mike hack into the security and try to-" Shepard said.

"Or maybe you can talk Pitne For. He was dealing with the Eclipse Sisters if I remember correctly. Less chance of getting caught and you retain your element of surprise," the detective said.

"I like that idea better, less chance of getting hurt and we actually get to kill more of them before they can kill us. Tex?" Mike asked.

"Yeah for once I agree with you man. But then it just gives you more time to grab some type of thing which will give us away," I said. He shrugged and started walking out the door. "Commander can we just send him back to the ship? You know put him on kitchen duty and have him cook us a victory meal or something? Maybe have him take care of his pot on the stove? Or maybe we wait until Rupert is bitching and moaning about having to fix and or renovate the garage," I said.

"Yeah, I'm suddenly thinking that we should have him back on the ship. Mordin, who should we have go in for Mike?" Shepard asked.

"Probably Miranda Lawson. considering the fact they're going into a close quarters fight. also might want to bring extra med kits. or maybe a-" Mordin said.

"Okay I change my mind. I'll pay for the damages and Mike stays," I said.

"Too late," Shepard said.

"Damn it. well get her down here so she can shot me and save the Reapers, Collectors, and whoever else the time and ammo. oh wait I mean the thermal clips. I'm so used to using bullets that… ah forget. let's just go and kick some ass," I said.

"*sigh* sometimes I wonder how he's survived with his go in guns blazing, shoot first, shoot some more and then try to ask a couple questions when everyone's dead, attitude," Thane said.

"Hey keep more bullets from hitting me. so I'm good with that," Shepard said," Normandy come in. Joker have Miranda suit up. she and Tex are going on a little field trip. close quarters combat."

"Copy that. should I tell her to wear something sexy?" Joker asked jokingly.

"Joker! I can run faster than you!" I shouted over the radio.

"Whatever. She's going to wait in the hangar while Mike brings in the shuttle. Oh and by the way, you may not want to-" Joker said.

"Can it Joker. Just get Miranda ready," Shepard said.

"Hmm not to pry but if I make a quick question?" Thane asked.

"Go ahead," Shepard said.

"Is there something between Tex and-" Thane asked.

"Goddamnit! Sir, I'm beginning to regret signing on," I said.

"Why cause you get shot more than the rest of us? Or cause there's the rumor that you're sleeping with Miranda?" Shepard asked.

"What? Ah dammit, now I really wish I had just with the damn miners. Least they shut up cause I'm the only the one who knows how to fix shit," I said.

"Yeah but until we blow up the Collectors, you're stuck with us," he joked.

"Any chance to transfer to supply or-" I said.

"Too late," he said.

"I don't know why I try. I'm going to talk to Pitne For and try to find Mike. Hopefully he hasn't got his head stuck in a freezer again. Better than a microwave. Oh wait that was at Blood Gulch. Never mind," I said.

"What? Tex we really need to find out you were stationed with during the time I was corpse," Shepard said.

"Whatever. See you guys," I said. I walked over to Pitne For and found Mike leaning on a door flipping a card over and over in his hand. "Mike what's that?" I asked.

"It's actually the thing that'll get us into the Eclipse Sisters base," he said.

"Well sad to say you're going in the breach with me like old times. Shepard's sending you back to the ship and having Miranda come down to help me. And you say one thing about that, I swear to god I'll kill you," I said.

"What? I'm going back to the ship while you go on a suicidal attack? Tough choice, see ya!" he said. He tossed me the key card and started toward the shuttle. "Good luck with the assault. Oh and I got first dibs on your gear if you don't make it back," Mike said.

"Sorry already left my gear to Mordin. Also the 38 is going to Joker sorry buddy. But you're stuck with the Ammo and weapons. No wait that's Grunts. I'm pretty sure I left you a bullet though," I said. He laughed and got into the shuttle. I waited for several minutes until the shuttle landed and Miranda got off. "Bout damn time Miranda. Was about to go on without you," I said.

"sorry had to find Cortez. Rupert was chewing out Mikes ass for something about fire damage," Miranda said.

"*sigh* not again. Man Shepard's gonna be pissed. Our budget can only allow three fires on the ship per mission," I said.

"Three fires? How many-" Miranda asked.

"Hahaha. Miri, I'm just playing. We only have a budget that allows four. After this we'll have to pay out of pocket. Now lets see if Mike actually got us an authentic card," I said. I slid the card in the slot and was rewarded with an unlocked door. "What do you know? Mike actually got us a genuine card that actually works," I said. I then cracked the casing and began working on a trick I knew.

"I thought we had already-" Miranda said.

"We'll need Shepard to be able to get to us without risking the Shuttle," I said. After several minutes I was done. "Bingo. Now we attack," I said. We entered the elevator and rode it up to the floor on the card. I loaded my AR-15 with a fresh clip and waited the elevator stopped.

"I don't like this. Going somewhere with no Intel," Miranda said.

"That's what exciting," I said. The door opened and a single LOKI mech met us. Miranda and I blow the damn thing away. "Hoorah. Now if that's the only damn thing they can afford at the front door then this'll be a…" I said. Then I saw several soldiers who opened fire. "Well I was wrong," I said. We shot back and watched as a biotic threw some crate at us. It exploded and sent a bunch of gas in our way.

"I hate to say but we might to evac. That gas is actually dust and it's a chemical that increases the power of a biotic," Monty said.

"So? That just means our powers are going to be twice as powerful and they're screwed," I said.

"maybe but it's also very toxic and dangerous to prolonged use. By Prolonged I mean roughly just a couple minutes or so," Monty finished.

"Goddamnit! Okay, Miranda hold position for thirty seconds then move up. Try not to get shot and not get exposed to the gas," I said. I ran back to the gas and sorta soaked it up for about three seconds.

"What? Why? you're A.I. just said that's dangerous," Miranda said.

"He knows," Monty said. I then charged and used some throw and pull attacks to off set the enemy. "by the way you can go and help him mop up," Monty said. Miranda ran out and started shooting the LOKI mechs and we cleaned house in a few seconds.

"Whoa. Ambush and a chemical that boosts a biotics powers and kills them in under a couple minutes. Man I can't believe Mike left out on this," I said.

"We got an hour or so. Want to help prove that rumor that we're sleeping together?" Miranda asked.

"Much as I'd liked to… but I'd rather not," I said. I went forward to scout ahead.

"You do know that he really wants to but is relatively unsure whether the feelings from you are real. Either that or he is trying to get back with Tali," Monty said.

"What's up with the either?" Miranda asked.

"I am unsure actually. But then again my systems and Artificial Intelligence core is starting to un-ravel. That is the cost of being active for more than six years," Monty said.

"Hey you guys coming? Or do I have to get killed by myself?" I asked.

"Calm down. Besides with the firepower you're packing, we could clear the building in just a few minutes," Miranda said. She followed me and watched as I ducked behind some cover as an entire squad fired at me.

"'Clear it in a few minutes?'" I asked. I fired my AR-15 over my cover and reloaded. Miranda slid into cover with me. "That was quite possibly the best thing I've seen you done yet," I said.

"Just wait til you finally decide to get with me," she teased.

"Whatever," I said. A bullet zinged and hit me straight in the head. She looked at me and thought I was dead. I just got up though and shook my head. I took off the helmet and just scoffed. "So much for these being kill-shots," I said as I looked at the dent. I put it back on and loaded a rifle grenade. I popped up and fired. I looked at Miranda and said," what? Surprised that-?" then for some odd reason out of the blue… she kissed me.

"Hmm didn't know rumor was true. Also not expecting to find them making out in a firefight," Mordin quickly said.

"Yeah neither will Tali," Shepard said. Miranda and I quickly separated as soon as we heard Mordin's voice.

"Great now I wish that bullet had killed me," I said as I moved a different piece of cover. I pulled the trigger on my launcher and sent the grenade flying. Then I took a round to the kneecap. "Ah fuck!" I shouted. I made it to the cover and propped myself up with my back against the low wall. "What is that makes the bad guys always go for my knees!" I shouted.

"Couldn't tell you!" Shepard yelled back. I looked at the wound and found no bullet wound. The bullet was just lodged in the space between the knee cap and lower leg. I breathed a sigh of relief and got back up. We continued through the building and faced numerous firefights. We ran over a bridge and were greeted by a Mantis gunship. "Damn! Tex any ideas?" he asked.

"Let me think. Um… oh I know. Give me a couple of seconds," I said. I pulled out a grenade and activated it. A red light clicked on and I waited for the gunship to fly right over. I tossed it onto the cockpit window and just stuck there. "Hell yeah! Three points!" I shouted.

"Beg your pardon but the ship is still flying," Thane said. But then the gunship just blew up.

"You were saying?" I asked.

"Show off," Shepard said. We continued toward the, what would probably be, the Eclipse Sister leader. We eventually ran into a Volus, who was wither drunk off his ass or filled to the brim of drugs(hard to tell since both was difficult to determine since normal indicators were compromised by the bio-suit the Volus species wore).

"I am a biotic god. I think things and they happen," the Volus said.

"Something tells me that this dude just might be either A, a hostage or B, a Volus who indulged himself into someone's stash of drugs," I said.

"My moneys on hostage," Shepard said. The Volus then went on saying how he was held captive and given all kinds of drugs. He said his powers were unopposed by anyone.

"Man this guy is really drugged," I said.

"How do you figure?" Thane asked.

"Have to agree with Thompson. Even with biotic boosting drugs, the dose would make him relatively unbalanced and even experience the symptoms of being either drunk or on drugs," Mordin chimed in.

"Thanks doc. I wasn't sure how to word it either. So should we tranq him?" I asked.

"No I got a better idea," Shepard said. He moved toward the Volus and barely tapped him on the back. Instead of getting pissed off and trying to throw the commander against the wall, the dude fell over and dropped like a brick.

"But I'm a… great wind, I'm… a… what was I talking about?" he asked very hazily.

"You're tired and you need to lie down for a bit," Shepard said.

"Right… tired, need to… sleep. Destroy universe later," the Volus said. The Volus walked off and left.

"hmm didn't think it'd be that easy," I said.

"Never had to deal with drunks?" Shepard asked.

"Yes but they were drunk humans who I ended up in a bar brawl with, and discharged from the Alliance," I said.

"Oh right. Lets move on then," Shepard said. We continued on and found the Eclipse Sisters leader. She was an Asari and had a look like she was pissed off and would bite someone's head off.

"Everything's gone to hell since we smuggled that filthy creature off world. First a Justicar shows up and blows away my best squad. Then you show up and blow up my whole security force and my favorite gunship," she said.

"Uh actually that was all me. And with a grenade, so better invest in better ships lady," I said. She then threw a heavy crate and slammed it into my head, knocking me unconscious.

"Tex! Mordin check on him!" Shepard shouted as he drew his rifle.

"On it," Mordin said. He ran over quickly checked my vitals. "He's good, just knocked unconscious," he said. Miranda had already gone berserk by now and started attacking. The remnants of the Eclipse sisters quickly filed into the room and charged. But even with me unconscious, Shepard, Thane, Mordin and Miranda proved to be more than enough to beat the living shit out them. Twenty minutes later, Shepard was at the leaders desk and said," uh Monty? Think you figure out what the name of the ship is?"

"Yes or you can actually just read the name. the Asari left the data pad opened and didn't lock it or erase any data," Monty said. Shepard looked at the data pad and got the name, the AML Demeter. "Shall I call for retrieval?" Monty asked referring to me.

"Yeah. Miranda, Thane, Grab Tex," Shepard said. Thane helped Miranda lift me up and dragged me to the shuttle. "mike, drop us off at the spaceport. Take Tex back to the ship," Shepard said.

"What happened this time?" he asked.

"In short, he got knocked the fuck out," Shepard said. He leaned in closer and said," Oh and prepare to collect in on the pot we got going," he said and tapped Mikes shoulder. Mike silently chuckled as he knew what Shepard meant, he meant he had proof Miranda and I were together. I woke up in the infirmary with a wrapped head and pissed off Tali by my side.

"I thought you two weren't together," she merely said.

"What?" I asked. _Shepard has got to be groundside, and I don't think he would've shown the combat vid yet, _I thought.

"You and Miranda, Monty showed me the vid. You two kissed, in a combat situation," she said. _oh shit, first I get smacked with a crate and now this? _I thought.

"First of all, we're not together and second, I nearly got my head blown off. So why she did that, I don't know. And third, why do you care? We split separate ways after our 'little' spat on the Citadel, and then you still come off ranting?" I asked. My head was pounding though, I looked around and saw the diagnosis, thanks to Monty. _Good thing I had my helmet on, _I thought. Tali was still there though, and wouldn't leave. "Look, I apparently need to recover, so can we pick this up later?" I asked.

"Sure, whatever. I'm in no mood to talk to you anyway," she said and left. She nearly ran over Mike as she walked out but still kept walking.

"Whoa, watch it Tali. 'Sup bro?" he asked as he pulled up a chair.

"Not much, but I got a couple searing headaches. and one just walked out the door," I said putting a hand on my head.

"Don't you mean walked in?" Mike asked.

"No, this time you showing up is a welcome change from hearing her constantly chew my ass for making out with Miranda-" I said. I quickly stopped talking as Mike laughed his ass off.

"I knew it bro! couldn't resist trying it with a bad girl huh?" he asked between breaths.

"Oh shut up. Now I'm know I'm leaving this bucket once the job's over. too much drama and quite frankly, too many chicks with problems about me," I said," Miranda first wants to slit my throat for whatever reason and now Tali wants to strangle me since I kissed Miranda," I said.

"Ha! you admit it!" mike said.

"MIKE!" I said sternly.

"oh calm down. hey I got to agree with you though the leaving the ship thing though. This job's way too complicated. I liked it when we just fought Geth, Saren and that Reaper. but hey, think of all the fun we'll miss though if we leave. all the parties, Miranda giving birth if you and her end up in bed sometime before," Mike said.

"Where is my damned pistol? cause this rumor and your so called 'predictions' are really getting on my nerves," I said.

"Whatever. By the way, Shepard is back and says you've got orders to stay on the ship for awhile. oh and we're getting my mission done," Mike said.

"What mission? finding your brain?" I asked as he walked away.

"No… it's my sister, she's… she's in trouble. I don't know what's wrong but she said something in her letter. I don't what but I'm going to help her," he said. I frowned at this, Mike's sister was known for having financial troubles and with this… she may owe someone a bit of money.

"Toss me that data pad," I said pointing to a data pad on the doc's desk. Mike picked it up and tossed it to me. I read it and smiled. "According to this, it's not very serious," I lied," I can help you on your mission bro."

"Thanks, man. I knew I could count on you. Jess'll be happy to see you. Maybe not Miranda if you come back here with a date arrangement with her," Mike joked.

"Yeah and maybe the Reapers die from a renegade meteor," I shot back. He left and then Miranda walked in. "Hey Miranda. Not here to chew my ass for not ducking when the crate was thrown at me?" I asked.

"No just checking on you. How you feeling after getting your smashed in by a crate?" she joked.

"Feels pretty good, not as bad as getting shot or my throat getting slit," I said. Then I decided to do something I didn't think I'd ever do… flirt with a Cerberus agent. "Plus, not so bad when a pretty girl comes and checks on me," I said. _that was so stupid, I only hope Tali wasn't listening or EDI was helping her, _I thought.

"Really? Well thank you… I got to say I never thought I'd hear something like that come from you," she said.

"well I've gotten used to you, either that or I'm kinda hallucinating from whatever the doc pumps into my system after I get shot, stabbed, hit or thrown after a mission. But I'm kinda hoping I'm speaking what I'm really thinking," I said. She smiled, leaned in and kissed me again.

"By the way… you tell anyone I did this or anything else, I swear I will kill you," she said half jokingly.

"And now I know I'm not dreaming. And don't worry I wont say a word. But then I cant say for EDI or if Mike is listening. But I also need a favor," I said.

"And your ulterior motive," she said rolling her eyes.

"Doc probably won't let out of here but I need to help Mike with a mission concerning family. Think you can get me cleared? Just for this mission, after that I'll stay here and 'suffer' your care for any time you wish," I said.

"Okay do my best. No guarantees though," she said. I nodded and she left. I leaned back into the bed and fell asleep. _Now we've got a new team member and a better chance at winning this fight, _I thought. Now I just had to wait before I could do anything else.

(A/N: And chapter 12 draws to a close, sorry that it took so long. Also extra points to anyone who notices that the line where Tex says, he has to live with it, is similar to Detective Murtaugh's line in Lethal Weapon where he says to the captain, he has to live with Riggs smoking. Chapter 13 will be up soon, please read and review in the mean time)


	13. Chapter 13: Mike's mission

Chapter 13: Mike's important mission

Earth, the seat of Humanity. But, we're not here to admire all the amount of space junk orbiting the planet or the number of defense stations or the Alliance ships. We are here to get Mike's sister, Jessica Jones, out of trouble… again. Like her big brother, Jessica, or Jess as Mike and I called her, was always in some kind of trouble. But the trouble she's gotten into where she calls in Mike and me, especially since we end up blowing most shit up, has got to be really incredibly terrible.

"Hey bro you sure you alright to be on this? We might end up shooting off a rocket or pissing off a diva. I mean the people Jess ends up in debt with, not exactly the best kind of people," Mike said.

"I know but she's my friend. Plus it'll be good to see her again. even if I massive crack in my skull," I said.

"You what?" Mordin, Shepard and Miranda asked.

"Kidding, just a headache the size of the White House. Besides a concussion never stopped me before," I said.

"It's true, he once took a massive hit during football and well… wait no that was me. you got knocked the fuck out and went down like a sack of bricks," Mike said.

"Mike I may have a concussion but it hasn't affected my aim," I said.

"Yeah I can attest," Miranda said.

"Bow-chicka-wow-wow," Mike said.

"Miri, you really got to be careful with what you say around Mike. Dude's got a sick mind," I joked.

"Yep. Some might even go as far as calling me a section eight," Mike joined in.

"Great so I just assigned a section eight pilot to fly a very sophisticated piece of technology?" Shepard asked.

"No you put a section eight pilot on a very shiny piece of shit bird. the X-38 is a sophisticated piece of technology," I said. Shepard rolled his eyes and looked out the window to see quite a few buildings pass by. _Chicago… Mike's family couldn't have picked somewhere nicer? _Shepard thought. Chicago sprawled several hundred miles and was one of a few cities that made the back bone of the Alliance's industrial strengths. Kind of a major shit hole though. Nothing but gangs, murder, debt, assholes, punks and a list as long as the citadel. The shuttle flew over to an apartment complex which seemed livelier than the whole of the city.

"What the?" Shepard said.

"When I pictured Mike's sister in trouble… I pictured her squatting in a shit hole," Miranda said.

"Seems most logical since what Mike made it seem. Interesting," Mordin said.

"Well this is why I never wanted to bring Tex. This building belongs to the Triads. They recently moved into Chicago. Jess got in debt with them and now… now she needs my help," Mike said.

"Yeah but she's my friend. And you know my saying," I said.

"Roughnecks leave no man behind," Mike said.

"Right, now lets go get your sis," I said.

"Roughnecks?" Shepard asked.

"Yeah Tex was in command of his own squad at one point but you know now he's just the sole remaining Roughneck. Mainly because his team was forced to change the name after he was discharged. But the saying still holds true… far as I know," Mike said. The Shuttle landed and we quickly disembarked. Several members of the Triads in black suits met us and weren't exactly too friendly.

"Which one of you is Michael Jones?" one asked.

"And who is Arthur 'Tex' Thompson?" another asked.

"*snicker* Arthur?" Shepard asked.

"*sigh* Great just when I thought I had shaken that name," I said.

"You will have to leave your friends outside though. Le boss only wants to see you," the Triad said.

"Sorry pal. But these two are my crew. I either go with them or-" Shepard said. Suddenly a red dot sight appeared on all of our chests, but not just one… several for each of us.

"Um I don't like the idea of getting shot Commander… how about you let us just go and you wait with the ship? shouldn't take us too long," Mike said.

"Yeah I don't like the idea of getting shot or my heart being fucked up again," I said.

"Fine. Guys you need any help… you know the frequency to call," Shepard said.

"Yeah. It's 505-helpuspleaseorweregoingtodie," I said.

"hahaha. Good one man," Mike said. Shepard, Mordin and Miranda stayed back while Mike and I were escorted to the building.

"So what do you think we'll find?" I asked Mike.

"Couldn't tell you. Always something with Jessie though," Mike said. The Triad men lead us to an elevator and we stepped in. The doors closed and we began the ascent to the top of the building. We were soon escorted by several more Triad soldiers.

"Hey bro I got a bad feeling about this," I whispered.

"Yeah same here. I don't like the way this is looking. If we're not careful… we might get Jessie killed," Mike said. Normally Mike was one of the worst possible people to depend on since he was a pilot and not a ground pounder, not until Eden Prime though. We went into an office and were stopped, looking at a desk with the chair turned to where the occupant looked out the window. When we were several paces from the desk, the Triad men stopped.

"Madam, the two you requested are here," one said to the person in the chair.

"Thank you gentlemen. That will be all," a very familiar voice said.

"Dong ma," they replied. They bowed and left.

"Thank you for taking time out your busy schedule to see me… brother," the woman said.

"Jessie?" Mike asked in disbelief. The woman turned the chair around and revealed herself as Jessie but she was dressed in professional clothing.

"Yes, surprised?" she asked.

"A lot. I thought you were… what the hell happened?" Mike asked.

"Simple. I owed money to a very powerful triad leader and as I was about to pay him… he came under attack from several Yakuzas. I saved him and the next thing I know, he clears my debt and I am suddenly his most trusted lieutenant. He appointed me leader when a heart attack claimed him three months ago," Jessie said. She took a puff of her lit cigarette.

"Um… dude I have bad feeling," I whispered once more into Mikes ear.

"Yeah. I don't like this," Mike replied. He turned his attention back to his sister and said," why did you call me if you were not in trouble?"

"I realized in order to effectively run the triads I need respectable lieutenants and a general to keep the men in line. The others… were not worth their weight in shit. So I disposed of them," she said.

"Where the fuck is this coming from? Jess, I grew up with you. How did you go from the sweet innocent little sister to a fucking warlord?" Mike asked.

"I also realized that in order to get anywhere especially as leader of the Triads…. you can't be soft. So I didn't get soft and got tough," she said.

"You still need to answer our question," I said.

"Well now that many candidates my advisors mentioned know that what I do to those who don't perform to my expectations… I fear I can't trust them. As I contemplated who to trust… I thought who better than my brother and ex-boyfriend?" she said.

"First of all, you aught to know we are working for Commander Shepard and second, we walk the straight and narrow road. Mike… maybe not like me but still… we don't pull the shit the Triads pull," I said.

"Sorry sis, but we already signed up with Shepard, like Tex said. And we plan to stay on his crew," Mike said.

"I already know that. But think of what opportunities this opens. I know and am very good… friends with certain politicians. Help me… and I will help you," she said. Her lips cruelly smiled at us. The old Jessie we once knew was gone, that much we knew. And the Jessie that replaced her… we didn't like.

"That's not our department," Mike said.

"What do you mean?" Jessie asked.

"Mike's the pilot and fellow ground pounder. I'm the same. Our team is led by Commander Shepard. He makes the decisions, not us," I said.

"Hmmm," she mumbled. She keyed her intercom and said," Mister Chang?"

"Yes miss Jones?" Chang replied.

"Have Chad and Hoa escort Commander Shepard and what other rabble he was with him up to my office," Jessie said. The fact she called Miranda 'rabble' got my blood boiling. I was about to bull dog her when Mike raised his arm and stopped me.

"Not worth it buddy. Wait until we have Shepard backing us up," Mike said. Mike's blood boiled as well, I could tell from his face. We waited for several minutes with Mike glaring at his sister, wondering how she became this way.

"Ma'am here are the rabble you wanted," Hoa said.

"Thank you. Leave," she said as waved her hand.

"Dong ma," Hoa and Chad said.

"What's going on here guys? Where's your sister?" Shepard asked.

"Right there. The fucking leader of the Triads here in Chicago," Mike hissed.

"Yes, and I also am working on a proposition but they need you to guide their wittle hands," Jessie said.

"Watch your fucking mouth you bitch" I hissed as I stuck my finger at her.

"As I was saying… I offered these two to be my most trusted lieutenants. Well lieutenant and general. And in return I give you anything you need. From funds to weapons that ain't exactly on the front lines," Jessie said.

"how the hell would you do that?" Shepard asked. Jessie let another cruel smile form on her lips.

"I know many politicians and their secrets they'd want to keep hidden and not out into the public eye. Four happen to the Galactic Council," Jessie said.

"And all I have to do is hand over my two best pilots and infantry men to be your general and lieutenant?" Shepard asked.

"Yes," she said.

"And they do all kinds of illegal things to get what I need for my mission?" Shepard asked.

"Indeed. Anything and everything you need, I and they will get," Jessie said.

"Will Tex and Miranda, guess your relationship is going long distance," Shepard said. He may have been joking but he was also saying for us to get ready for a shoot out. I motioned silently to Mike to flank right as Miranda and I went left.

"Sorry to say but he will have to break up with her. As he and I will-" she said. Mike cocked his rifle and put it to her head, cutting her off.

"-Are fucking over. Give us a goddamn break. Tex, how the hell is she so hooked on you?" mike asked.

"Search me," I said.

"*in Chinese* Everyone! Attack!" Jessie shouted. Multiple guys in suits quickly came out from hiding and we found ourselves surrounded. "I'm willing to let you live and still be my commanders but if you refuse… will the men with the big ass guns will-" Jessie said.

"Tex, you said you were working on something?" Shepard asked.

"Yep one second," I said," Monty, lets show these fuckers our new gun!"

"Affirmative. Charging, one percent… two percent," Monty said.

"Oh you've got to be shitting me," Mike said.

"Kidding. one hundred percent. firing now!" Monty shouted, a lightning shock went out and shot out in all directions. The Triad men quickly spazzed out and crumbled as their nervous systems were over charged by the lightning attack.

"Whoa that actually worked," I said.

"You mean you never tested it?" Miranda asked.

"No well… yeah actually no. and I'm just glad it didn't fry us, or Jennie. Well maybe abit disappointed that it didn't fry Jennie," I said.

"Tex, fry the elevator. I don't want any more triads coming in through that door. Everyone else set up for rappelling," Shepard said.

"Oh like in all the old spy movies?" Mike asked.

"Nah man more or less like the Delta Force ones or anything with badass soldiers," I said,

"Tex. Door. Now!" Shepard said.

"What do we do about her?" Miranda asked.

"Too dangerous to be alive. Have to kill. Only way to make sure she doesn't kill us," Mordin said.

"No, Commander we could take her back to the ship. Have the doc take a look at her? Maybe the Triads did something to her?" Mike asked.

"How do we get her out? Once we start rappelling, they'll call some type of air support, maybe get some attack choppers out here," Miranda asked.

"I got that covered. Tex, ready for a Call of Duty moment?" Mike asked.

"Hell's yeah," I said as I closed the elevator panel. I tossed some C-4 into the elevator and sent it downward. "I've sent our hosts a little going away present. We got about a minute and a half before it blows. But you know my handiwork. It wont reach the lobby before the timer runs out so, the floor it stops on gets blown to hell and the ones above it. Including this one," I said.

"Alright. Hey buddy hate to break your good mood but you'll have to carry Jessie. No offense but if I have one of the others do it… they'll drop her as soon as we jump," Mike said.

"ah Damnit. Well oh shit… move it!" I said. I grabbed Jessie and hooked her up to my belt. "One of those moments when I hope my belt breaks," I muttered.

"Wait til we get back on the ship… and when you and Miranda are alone in either your room or hers!" Shepard said.

"Oh shut up and jump!" I said. We quickly hooked up to a secure railing and ran to the window. Once we jumped through… the window shattered and we fell down to the Lobby. We fell onto the side of the building and were surprised to see the window hold. "Forty seconds on the clock!" I shouted. I picked Jessie into my arms and ran downward with everyone else.

"Thirty-five seconds remaining. Hopefully cord will resist the shrapnel," Monty said.

"Monty! Do us all a favor and just count or shut the hell up!" Shepard shouted. Jessie was just star struck about the fact we were running down the side of a building and was in my arms.

"And don't think this changes anything Jess!" I shouted to her.

"Twenty seconds!" Monty exclaimed.

"Hang on people!" I shouted. Once we had only five seconds… we halted and waited for the coming explosion.

"Hold position," Shepard said.

"Get ready… four… three.. Two… one," Monty said. The C-4 charges blew and the cords holding us in place could not take the tension and were snapped to pieces. Luckily we were only about one or so stories from the ground and we just fell for a few seconds.

"Damn!" Shepard said as he fell.

"Hmm, not as bad as I thought," Mordin said.

"Easy for you to say. I got to carry madam bitch so she doesn't run off," I said as I struggled to stand.

"Ah don't be a pussy," Mike said.

"Come on, I'll treat you to dinner once we get out of here," Miranda said as she helped me and Jessie up.

"Um Triads seem to have regrouped a lot faster than we thought," Mordin said.

"You've got no chance. But you still have a chance…" Jessie said.

"Goddamnit! Mordin have you got something to shut her up?" I asked.

"Sorry," Mordin said.

"Hey um doesn't John have flight clearance for the 38?" Mike asked.

"Yeah but… we might be dead before he gets here," Shepard said as Triad soldiers quickly began to surround us.

"Tex, any ideas?" Mike asked.

"Um, if you can buy me some time, I could buy John some time," I said.

"English," Mike said.

"Counting eighteen… no twenty-three soldiers," Monty said.

"What do you need?" Mordin asked as he swung his SMG from left to right.

"Um, I could try and channel my Biotics to my shields and create a dome shield but… that's only theory," I said.

"Or you surrender and-" Jessie said.

"For gods sake shut up!" Mike said.

"Tex, we need that air support but are you sure you're up to this?" Shepard asked.

"Now enemy forces are up to thirty-eight. More on the way a lot more," Monty said.

"Got no choice now. Cortana you read?" I asked over the radio.

"Affirmative," she said.

"I need immediate air support. Tell John to get in the 38 and give us a hand. We are currently surrounded by fifty Triad soldiers," I said.

"Fifty-eight soldiers," Monty said.

"Copy. We're on our way," Cortana said.

"'Kay, now we just have to hold out for a few minutes. Now all we have to do is kill these buggers and leave some for John. Easier said than done huh?" I asked.

"Yeah no shit. Tex, do what you need to do and do it fast!" Shepard said,

"Copy, Miranda I'll need you help. Ready?" I asked.

"Yes, but what do I do?" she asked.

"Just concentrate on making a dome of biotic energy… I'll do the rest. Monty ready buddy?" I asked.

"Ready and wiling," Monty said.

"Ready? Steady… NOW!" I shouted. I focused every ounce of biotic power into my hands and formed a dome shield. Miranda did the same and Monty quickly did some tech-no crap, which is far too complex to explain(A/N: It's too complex because I have no idea how to explain it so just roll with it), and the dome was strengthened.

"Monty! Is it safe to shoot through the Dome?" Shepard asked.

"In theory, yes," Monty said.

"In theory?" Mike asked.

"Yes, I see the A.I.'s thinking. Since this is obviously experimental… there is a high probability that our munitions will merely bounce around and wound our shield generators," Mordin said.

"Mordin! For god's sake! Just shoot at someone!" Mike shouted. Mordin complied and quickly joined mike and John in the firefight. The Triads shot back but their rounds just bounced off the dome. The bullets even found themselves hitting their owners. It looked like the dome would hold and we might've just killed everything in sight but then Monty just had to say it.

"Warning, energy level of our biotic soldiers dropping. It would seem creating a dome of energy is some what strenuous on or compatriots," Monty said.

"Monty! Way too much information!" I shouted.

"Tex, any ideas?" Shepard asked.

"Nada! Mike?" I asked.

"Um kill 'em all?" Mike suggested.

"Mordin?" Shepard asked as he popped in a new thermal clip.

"Sadly no viable escape route exists," Mordin said.

"You could-"Jessie said.

"Miranda kick her damn skull in!" I shouted, gritting my teeth.

"I could but…" she said. She couldn't do shit as of now with the dome relying on our power.

"This is bravo-alpha-two-zero to ground team over," John said over the radio.

"Nice to hear from you mate! Shepard, it's john! You tell him what to do!" I said.

"Thanks. John, we're the glowing dome in the middle of the triads men. You use the damn guns on that thing and clear us path for to the shuttle," Shepard said.

"Happy to oblige," John said. The X-38 hovered over the Triads and we watched as they were reduced to bloody pulps. "Get some you fuckers!" john shouted. When the ship started to fire, they immediately began to run away which gave us the room to run.

"You've got some time but we're running out of bullets! Hurry and get airborne!" Cortana shouted.

"Copy that. Alright, Tex, Miranda, drop the dome lets go!" Shepard shouted. We were too happy to comply as we stopped focusing our powers and let the dome dissipate. We then made a dash for the shuttle and were kindly greeted with Mike's annoying yet somehow soothing car alarm beep. "Mike get us airborne!" Shepard shouted.

"Copy that," Mike said to himself. We went in with Mike and Jessie going in first followed by Miranda and Mordin. Shepard and I held off what crazy Triads were left. "Okay, we're good to go!" mike said. Shepard tapped my shoulder and gave me the signal to get in. I backed into the shuttle and continued firing my rifle.

"Come on! That all you got!" I shouted," Eat lead!"

"Tex quit fucking around and get in!" mike said.

"I'm in! go, go, go!" I shouted at Mike as I fell back into the shuttle.

"We are out of this two bit town!" Mike said as we lifted into the air. The Triads fired several missiles but Mike did what we called, Murdoc(A-Team) moves, and easily dodged those. Within Minutes, we were back on the Normandy and I was getting my ass chewed for disobeying the docs orders… again.

"Hey doc, what's up with Jess?" I asked walking up to her with Mike and Miranda in tow,

"Well she's perfectly fine, but upon further examination I found the Triads had implanted her with some type of loyalty chip. I'd say Miranda might've had something to do with it but when I contacted Cerberus they admitted to selling one of those to the Triads. But otherwise she's fine. Shepard said we're dropping her off at an Alliance facility. Hope she does okay," Chakwas said.

"Yeah so do I," Mike said. Chakwas left and only Mike, Miranda and I were still there.

"I shouldn't have left her," Mike said.

"Hey bro, how were we supposed to know this would happen? For all we knew she could've been President," I said.

"Yeah, besides now Cerberus owes you big time. I could have the Illusive Man transfer enough credits into her account to get her back on her feet," Miranda added.

"Thanks. Mind leaving me and my sister alone?" Mike asked.

"Sure buddy. Holler if you need us," I said as I patted his shoulder. Miranda and I left and started to talk in the hall.

"You took some pretty hits out there, and that keeping the dome up probably didn't do your head injury much good," Miranda said.

"Funny I was about to say the same thing to you," I chuckled.

"Very funny. Tell if this hurts," she said as she flicked my head.

"Hmm, nope. But then again, Monty did use 'bout half the painkillers in the suit to dull whatever pain I was feeling," I said.

"Really? Then let me know if you feel this," she said. She leaned in and kissed me on the cheek.

"I felt that," I said. For once no awkward silence took hold of the situation but a still awkward moment was relevant. "UM I should go and check on my gear," I stammered.

"Yeah I've got some reports to fill as well," she said. we went off in separate directions and then we just waited for the moment for Shepard to give the word on the Collectors.

(A/N: And Fin for this Chapter. sorry about the Triad thing but I couldn't think of anything else. well that's it for this Chapter for now. Also I'll be posting the next Chapters for the other stories I got posted, ME & RVB crossover and Dragon Age, soon. thanks to all who read and please leave comments.)


	14. Chapter 14: An ode to Oceans Eleven

Chapter 14: Kasumi's infiltration mission

(A/N: sorry that it took so long. But now in this chapter and the next few or so Tex will no longer use ballistic weapons but will still use the old weapons which are retrofitted to use Heatsinks.)

For the next few days, everything went pretty slow. The Collectors had gone dark so far and until every ounce of the ship and team were ready, Shepard wasn't going to hit them just yet, despite my fathers protests on finding my mother. In order to kill some time, I decided it was high time to recalibrate the shield unit in my pack so it wouldn't fail on me or something. "Monty, how's the reading?" I asked.

"Everything is good. Also you might want to check behind you. Our commanding officer is behind you," Monty said. I turned around and sure enough Shepard was there.

"Tex, how's the head?" he asked.

"alright. Doc says I should battle ready in a day or so," I said.

"Well I need to ask you something. Kasumi has a mission she wants done now. And unless I'm mistaken you've had some undercover experience?" Shepard asked.

"Yeah a long time ago though," I said.

"Well dust off your experience cause I'll need your help in something," Shepard said.

"Kasumi's mission? Well had a feeling I'd get volunteered one way or another but sure. I'll sign on for it. Hell I already got some weapons too," I said.

"Good to hear. Hopefully wont be too hard. Kasumi has it all figured out. Oh and Mike will be joining us. Guy said he was cross trained by an old CIA operative," Shepard said.

"Oh yeah he was. Dude spent a bit of time at The Farm(A/N: it's a real CIA training area but still a highly classified secret.). So need anything?" I asked.

"You said you had some gear?" Shepard asked.

"Yep. Come on. Got a little gun rack right here," I said. We walked to a chest which unfolded into a gun rack that wasn't exactly the kind of small Shepard was thinking of. The look on his face was practically priceless. "You think this is impressive, just wait til you see my dads. He's got a whole room of the stuff. Hell he was frigging pedestal with two revolvers for when he makes a last stand in a zombie apocalypse," I said.

"Wait what?" Shepard asked.

"Hehehe. I know right. Everyone knows it'll be the Vampires who cause the apocalypse. don't know why he bothers with zombies," I said. I reached into the rack and took out a pistol, sub machine gun and rifle. "Silenced M9 Berretta, MP5, or if you're lucky enough take the M16 in. but don't worry, since we haven't had much work I've reconfigured the designs so they take thermals. but if worse comes to worse, I can still use ballistics. dual system," I said.

"Tex, where's your lab coat?" Shepard asked.

"I'm sorry?" I asked.

"You sometimes act more like a scientist than you do a soldier. just wondering if you have a lab coat to put on for when you invent," Shepard joked.

"Hahaha. well I don't. so you want some of my hardware or you'll stick to your gear?" I asked.

"Toss me a Berretta. I'll take it just in case but I'll also have one of my side-arms on me as well," Shepard said. I picked up an M9 and tossed it to him. He caught it and slid it into an empty holster. "Oh here's your Alias's Dossier," Shepard said as he gave me a data pad with my picture and some info. I took the data pad and it read:

_Jekyll Stronson_

_Right hand enforcer of Solomon Gunn._

_Commonly known for coolness under fire, hints at prior time in military._

_Expert in just about all weapons._

"*whistle* Guess Kasumi knows me huh?" I asked.

"Guess so. Miranda will stop by with a suit for you. She offered to deliver it for Kasumi. Guess I know why huh?" Shepard asked with a smirk.

"Shut up sir. We all know what happened back on Illium but far as I know… that all could've been the battle getting her all… riled up or something. Hell I once heard that girl in the alliance actually got together with a guy she's hated since middle school all because he took a bullet to the heart and just barely survived. Nothing can be explained right I guess," I said. Shepard smirked and left to brief Mike on the mission.

"Sir, if I may put in a query?" an AI asked.

"Monty I thought-" I said.

"I'm not Montgomery, I'm Cortana remember?" Cortana asked. I just barely realized the voice belonged to a female.

"Right sorry Cortana. Not used to hearing you. What's up?" I asked.

"Monty had to shut down for an extended period of time for self maintenance. He asked me to help with your upgrading you MK-12 combat armor upgrade but I think he forgot to say to help you with your feelings toward the ships X.O. I can help if you like," Cortana said.

"Goddamnit. Okay you know what Cortana, sure I do like her. But I'm still not a hundred percent sure yet! Hell I'm not sure if she still wants to kill me or she sees me a fellow squad mate! So can we just drop it?" I asked.

"Sure and next time how about you let me get a quick word in to alert you when Miranda is near? Luckily I don't think she heard what you said. Pray she didn't or you end up spaced," Cortana said as she 'winked' off. Sure enough about ten seconds later, Miranda walked in with a folded up suit.

"Hey Tex. Got some gear for you. Also got a message from Mike's crazy sibling. She apparently is doing quite well and wants to extend her gratitude for your help," Miranda said.

"Thanks so long as she doesn't want to get back together then she and I cool. Not going through that hell again," I said.

"Why not? I think it would be fun to see," Miranda joked. _not exactly funny but at least she's starting to unwind, _I thought.

"Yeah well I got two reasons not to do that. One, Mike now has access to something to blow me up. Two, got an eye on someone in the crew. Hope you don't decide to court martial me," I added.

"so long as the relationship doesn't take any… crazy turns. Then I wont tell the commander. Don't forget, he still makes all the decisions," Miranda said.

"Thanks. Interested in why Kasumi sent me a suit?" I asked.

"Yeah abit. You don't seem the type to hook up with a master thief," she said.

"Haha. No it's for a mission Shepard slated me and Mike for to help out with. And apparently I have to play a bad guy for it," I said.

"Bad guy? What are we, eight?" Miranda asked.

"Eh used to being on the side of justice really. Not exactly as cool for me when I join the 'dark side'" I said.

"If I recall from your file though, you were in a gang," Miranda said in a matter of fact tone.

"Yeah but we helped the police and well everyone else. Never was a bad kid, owe that to George," I said.

"Your brother, he's the one in the hospital right?" she asked.

"Yep. Every time I tried to do something bad, he caught me and told our dad. Hehe, when he found out about me being in gang though, he said he had enough of trying to stop me from my idiotic stunts. He let me roll with the gang and the next thing he knew, me and the crew were in the paper just for saving a few cops stuck in a firefight," I said. I chuckled and just stared abit into space. _wait why am I opening up to someone from Cerberus? I mean she's not all bad but still, she nearly got George killed, _I thought.

"Well I never did anything my father didn't approve of. I just studied and trained," Miranda said.

"What? Seriously? Man I got to take you out somewhere then. Show what you've been missing," I said. I immediately thought of an ice rink back on Earth, Mike, me and a bunch of friends always raced or played on one.

"That'd be great, once your mission is over. You're not getting out of playing as a secret agent man," Miranda joked.

"Oh haha. I got a few tricks up my sleeve though don't forget," I said as she left. Even though a small flicker of dislike still remained between us, we grew attached. Mainly for the fact we were both Biotics and we were the only two capable of subduing Jack once she got into a drunken rage. That happened about twice a day or so. So the real miracles are, Jack has lived this long and we can still stop her. I changed into my new clothing and began to get my weapons loaded. I even loaded a special modification I helped Mike make. It was a hand held device that unfurled onto my arm and hand which, in theory, could either increase accuracy, increase Biotic damage, shield recharge or even fly the X-38.

Hopefully I wouldn't need it cause I hadn't fully tested any of the functions but it would be nice to have just in case it all hit the fan. I walked to the elevator and was greeted by Mike in a ridiculous costume. the character Kasumi must've picked for him made him look a bit Russian. but considering his attitude toward fighting was half the time, I'm not surprised. "Good day comrade," I said in Russian accent.

"Yeah yeah yuk it up. At least I have a badass role in this spy mission. And I finally get to play as James Bond," Mike said.

"Dude, you look more like a Vanko Zhukov of Russia's KGB organization. Not James Bond of Britain's MI6," I said.

"Actually look at my file Kasumi drew up for my alias," Mike said. I took the Dossier folder, read it and sure enough the alias's name was James Bond.

"Damn bro. either Kasumi really likes you and kissing up or you got lucky. I'm betting on lucky though," I said.

"What jealous cause the thief has feeling for me bro? thought you were going after Miranda," Mike said.

"Shut up. I may have been in a gang but it's not like I'm attracted to girls with pasts like Kasumi's," I said.

"I don't know, you met Jess through her past when she tried to steal your favorite comic," Mike said.

"Yeah but then you jumped me as I ran after her," I said.

"hey I thought you were gonna tackle her," Mike said in his defense.

"I was or at least trip her and snag my comic back from her," I said. The elevator arrived and we read over our dossiers once more and began to perfect out alias's. For Mike it wasn't hard pretending to be an ex-Russian Spetsnaz since well he was almost half Russian considering he wanted to blow everything to hell and back. Mine well, the accent I had down since apparently my alias was a mere British soldier formerly of it's SAS. So in theory you could say both our Alias's were part of N7.

"Okay hopefully we wont have to do much talking cause, I only know enough Russian to ask where the nearest toilet is and where I can get something to eat," Mike said.

"If only Kasumi knew you took Italian in high school. Then you'd be going off like a damn rocket," I said. The elevator stopped in the "Hangar" deck. Shepard and Kasumi were standing there waiting for us. "We in system already?" I asked.

"Yep. Hope you got everything down," Shepard said.

"Please I once crammed three whole semesters of biology into three hours," Mike said.

"That why you failed the exam?" I asked.

"Shut up I still got a fifty on it," Mike said.

"Yeah that's another way of saying you failed," I said.

"Oh yeah? Did you pass the M-kat?" Mike asked.

"Yes, barely though. I don't know how Chakwas did it. But good thing I ended up a soldier huh?" I asked.

"Well Mike he put you to shame. So lets get the mission over with. And try to stay in character," Shepard said.

"Why is he mad at me?" Mike asked.

"You? Dude, this is a high risk mission and even though we're highly qualified for the job, Shepard knows us. He just doesn't want us botching the hell out of it and the next thing we know, we're stuck on KP duty," I said.

"Or dead and being used as shields," Mike added.

"That too bro," I said. Mike settled into the pilots chair and took the shuttle out of the hangar and down to the planet below.

"Alright I'm sure everyone knows the mission?" Kasumi asked.

"Um I don't. I kinda stopped reading after the part that said '_loves to beat the hell out of everything and blow shit up'._ so what's the mission?" Mike asked.

"The mission is retrieve my former partners Greybox from an old adversary. A man by the man of Hock," Kasumi said.

"Greybox? I've read about those. Only way to get to one is… oh shit. Sorry bout your friend Kasumi," I said realizing what had most likely happened to Kasumi's friend.

"Thank you. Now we must be careful, Hock will have some of the most sophisticated security on his vault. So Tex, no trying to blow it up," Kasumi said.

"Me? I'm not the guy who enjoys blowing shit up. That guy is Mike by the way," I said. But Kasumi didn't listen, only strengthening the thought that she liked mike. Or maybe she just didn't care. The Shuttle touched down a few minutes later and we quickly disembarked. The statue we had procured to use in order to get our weapons and armor through, was offloaded and scanned. We had a near close call with Hock's guards as they scanned the statue. Something about strange readings, hopefully he wasn't reading my armors power pack. But Hock let us through thinking we weren't here from Illium to cause mayhem. But he said for Kasumi to wait with the ship. But it didn't make much of an impact for us cause Kasumi came with her stealth belt which bended light to precise calculations and settings.

But in short, hit one button, zap your invisible. (Mike: you had no other ideas huh? Me: Oh shut up! Your not even real!) We quickly moved through the party and found the entrance to the vault. "Oh crap. We got some obstacles in our path. And for once, I don't feel like blowing it to hell and gone," Mike said.

"What do you mean?" I asked as I kept an eye on our rear.

"He's right. There's a voice lock, DNA recognition and a force field. We'll need some time to crack these. Tex, any ideas?" Kasumi asked.

"Why are you asking me?" I asked.

"Well cause you are a… former gang member," Kasumi said.

"That's criminal profiling and I resent it," I said.

"Tex, you have any ideas or don't you?" Shepard asked.

"Yes. The shield is easy. Mike I'm sure you can do that. On second thought, I'll come with you then we'll get into the security room. After that, I have no clue. Kasumi?" I asked.

"Yes. Shepard will have to get Hock talking long enough to get a voice sample for the voice lock. We'll have to get into Hock's room for DNA," Kasumi said.

"Alright. Let's get to work people," Shepard said. We left the elevator room and tracked down the control panel for the force field, while Shepard talked Hock into giving some big speech.

"This is Agent Bubbles, control panel and force field are down," Mike said into the radio.

"Dude, did you seriously say Agent Bubbles?" I asked.

"Yes. Hey if I'm going to do this I want a kickass agent name," Mike said.

"Well I'm sure Shepard wont agree," I said.

"Agent Bubbles… Mike I'm placing you on Kitchen Duty," Shepard said.

"This is screwed up. So if Tex were to come up with I don't know, Agent Solid Snake, you'd agreed with that?" Mike asked as we moved to the security room.

"Actually yes. Solid Snake, slap him upside the head," Shepard said.

"With pleasure," I said as I slapped Mike upside the head.

"OW! Why is it our C.O. always has you hitting me?" Mike asked as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Tex, you and Mike hit the security station. We'll need the password for the vault," Shepard said.

"Yeah I know. Heard that big speech Hock gave," I said.

"Gave me a headache," Mike mumbled. We walked into the hallway just before the security room and drew our sidearms. Well I drew mine while Mike drew an MP5K I loaned him.

"Dude, seriously?" I asked.

"To quote Colonel Hannibal Smith,' Overkill is underrated.'" Mike explained.

"You're not gonna get fool and pity tattooed on your knuckles like B.A. are you? Ever since I loaned my copy of A-Team to you, you've gone abit overboard with the quotes," I said.

"Thinking about it. But I think I'll just name one of my guns fool pitier," mike joked.

"Haha. You kill more guys on this op than me, then you get to keep the MP5K and name it whatever you like," I said as we stepped in the room.

"HEY!" a guard shouted. But before he do anything else, Mike plugged several rounds into the guy while I shot the guards partner working on a nearby terminal.

"Okay. Commander, two down. And Mike is looking through a couple terminals now," I said.

"Why Mike?" Shepard asked.

"I got my reasons. Plus one guard never got a chance to close his message box," I said as I hooked up my gauntlet to the nearby wall safe.

"You found a safe didn't you?" Kasumi asked.

"Now how'd you know that Kasumi?" I asked as the gauntlet beeped green and I promptly opened it.

"You said you have your reasons. Also Shepard had an idea of that too. Just wanted to make sure," Kasumi said.

"Eh not much anyway. Only a few thermals and a thousand creds. Hmm might need those later," I said spotting several thermal clips and about a thousand credits.

"a thousand creds? Huh, I'll be willing to win that from you in a game of skillian five," Shepard said.

"Uhuh commander. I still need creds for my brother remember? And ever since I came onto the ship, I've had to cancel some jobs. I'm yet to get more too," I said, as we holstered our weapons and went back into the party. Monty hacked the door and locked it behind us.

"Commander. Got the password for the vault. Peruggia. Weird ass code huh?" Mike asked.

"Yeah mention the damn thing out loud why don't you? While the room is swarming with private security?" I asked as I once again slapped his head. He blocked it this time.

"Hah! See shouldn't go for the same target twice!" he said. I tried a third time and got him.

"You're right. don't go twice but thrice," I said as I headed back for the vault. Mike lagging behind with a scowl. We ended up waiting for a few minutes as Shepard snuck into Hock's room with Kasumi to find some useable DNA for the scanner. They returned a few minutes later to find us just sitting by the statue waiting for them. With a few unconscious party guests hidden behind it.

"What the hell?" Shepard asked.

"Ask him. I went to get a drink and I come back to this," I said.

"They were onto us! I had to do something," Mike said.

"Well we'll be off world by the time they find them. Kasumi put the stuff to work," Shepard said. Kasumi nodded and in a few second the elevator was open and we were starting to suit up in out armor we hid in the statue. I pulled out a fully modified FAMAS rifle that I could reload with either ballistics or Heatsinks. Mike on the other hand had something a little more noisier he had "borrowed" from my locker. A GPMG machine gun. This one was fitted to use only Heatsinks. Luckily I had made some, which he promptly took as well. I swear I need to put locks on my guns and stuff. Commander Shepard and Kasumi just grabbed their standard rifle or SMG.

"Okay. Camera in the elevator is down. Lets move," Kasumi said. We moved into the elevator and stood motionless as it carried us downward. When we reached the Vault, we were in total awe of the mans massive collection. Multiple statues of aliens, a stone carving with Quarian etchings, Michelangelo's David and even the Statue of Liberty's head.

"How the hell did Lady Liberty's head get here?" Mike asked.

"Beats me, for all I know he could've used some sort of teleportation device and then used a wormhole to cover his tracks," Mike said. We all looked at him with the weirdest looks as he said," what? You try hanging out at Tex's place with nothing to do while he and my sister make out in his room," Mike said. This promptly turned the eyes of Kasumi and Shepard to me.

"Seriously?" Shepard asked.

"You did what?" came a different voice.

"What the-? John are you listening in on us?" I asked over the radio.

"Not my fault, Miranda made me," John said.

"Ah, why am I not surprised. It's just like with Jess, well with less of Mike trying to tap into my phone," I said.

"Blow up you landline one time and your cell eight times, and you just cant let it go can you?" Mike asked.

"Dude, you blew out my hearing for three weeks each time. And I still have trouble hearing sometimes as well. Why do you think I have Monty submit every request in a document on my data pad?" I asked.

"okay, lets continue this later. Kasumi where's the Greybox?" Shepard asked.

"Right there," Kasumi said, pointing at a small device.

"That? We practically did something out of Ocean's eleven just for that?" Mike asked.

"Hey don't forget. Sometimes the stuff that's worth a lot is something small. Like a note, microchip, or something along those lines," I said.

"Indeed!" Hock shouted. We quickly spun around an drew our weapons as a hologram appeared with Hock in giant face form.

"Oh shit. Cover blown?" Mike asked.

"Cover blown out the fucking window," I said as I took a quick look towards the elevator, waiting for Hocks guards. Hock then went on and on some weird bullshit that we didn't really listen too. Shepard shot at it which shut it up soon after Hock began talking. Then shortly after, a firefight ensued as Hock's private security tried to take us down. Fortunately they seemed like military rejects who couldn't tell a rifle from a rocket launcher. We battled our way through numerous corridors, our original way in had been blocked off from some sort of lockdown. We blew through Hock's security force like they were nothing but tissue paper. When we ran straight into a corridor with no exit though, we just blew through it with a nearby cannon. Mike did the honors on that, he was the only one who knew who to properly calibrate it so it wouldn't blow up and the only one who knew where to shoot it to prevent the guards from shooting us with it in the back.

Eventually, after about an hour or so fighting, we made it to some sort of flight pad on the other side of Hocks estate. "Mike, call in the Shuttle. We need out of here now! Tex, watch the skies. We have no idea if Hock's got any airpower. Kasumi and I will watch the area around us," Shepard said.

"Uh commander!" I said.

"Shepard. I got the Shuttle headed for us. It'll be here in a few short minutes," Mike said.

"Good. Now-" Shepard said.

"Commander!" I shouted.

"What!" Shepard asked.

"Contact incoming. It looks like a fucking mantis Gunship!" I shouted as Hock flew up in his Gunship.

"I have you now! I will get that Greybox!" Hock shouted over the intercom.

"Goddamnit! Tex anything to take it down?" Shepard asked as he and Kasumi ducked behind a container.

"Negative! I left my heavy shit back on the ship. I thought this would be an in and out job. Not a fucking in and fight job!" I shouted as dove behind a low raised wall.

"Mike?" Shepard asked.

"Nope but the Shuttle has rocket pods on it. More than enough to take this bastard down. Tex, cover me. I cant fire right now," Mike said as he brought out an odd looking device which he promptly put on his arm.

"This is no time for a fucking test drive! We should call in the X-38!" I shouted as I ran to Mikes position.

"It'll take to long! Mike what the hell are you doing?" Shepard asked.

"Flying the shuttle with a remote control whose design is no different than the one Arnold Schwarzenegger used in the Sixth day!" Mike shouted.

"Yep we're fucking dead as shit!" I shouted. I popped up and shot at the gunship as suddenly I took three hits to the shoulder. "Damn! What the hell!" I asked aloud. I peeked over and saw as several of Hock's guards began to pile off an elevator as we fought to rid the sky of the Gunship.

"Shepard. Ground targets everywhere! We ain't gonna make it!" I shouted as I took the spent clip out of the rifle and slapped in a fresh one.

"Mike ETA?" Shepard asked he popped up and started to shoot at the incoming targets.

"Give me a few seconds. Tex, got a flare?" Mike asked.

"Very last one!" I shouted.

"Shoot it off!" Mike ordered. I pulled out my flare gun and loaded my last flare and aimed it straight at the Gunship.

"Flare away!" I shouted. I pulled the trigger and sent it flying up and it stuck to the Gunship.

"Is that all you got!" Hock mocked.

"Nope! Mike please tell me I just didn't waste my last flare!" I shouted as I returned my attention to the numerous goons charging us.

"You didn't good buddy. Oh bad guys! Time for your daily dose of lead!" Mike shouted as the remote controlled shuttle flew by and sent several hundred rounds per minute flying down onto the poor infantry. "Yeah bitches! Now time for Hock!" Mike shouted as he veered the Shuttle around and had it face Hock's gunship. A lock-on tone sounded and Mike let loose a volley of heat sinking rockets onto the gunship. All of them landing right where my flare had gone, Hock's cockpit. Or at least near it anyway. The Gunship just blew into a bunch of pieces and Hock fell onto the landing pad. Kasumi was on him in an instant and was about to beat the living shit before Mike and I had to pull her back.

"He's not worth it! He's not bloody worth it!" we said as we pulled her away from Hock. Shepard walked up to the fallen criminal and leaned at him.

"You're lucky I'm merciful, otherwise I would've let Kasumi beat the living shit out you you fuck! Tex, got any special rounds for that rifle of yours?" Shepard asked.

"Shredder rounds. Tear through skin, muscle and bone in an instant," I said.

"Load a clip in your rifle and give it to Kasumi. She gets to kill this guy," Shepard said as he stood up. I pulled out the half spent heatsink, loaded a shredder mag and gave it to Kasumi.

"Come on. Mike lets see if we can find some decent salvage while Kasumi takes out the trash," I said as we walked to the several busted open crates. Kasumi aimed the rifle at Hocks torso.

"Better make sure you kill me. Else I'm-" Hock said just as Kasumi just hammered down on the trigger and unloaded nearly thirty rounds into Hock's chest. She then proceeded to beat Hock's skull in with the butt of the rifle. Mike saw and quickly ran over pulling Kasumi away. She was then suddenly in tears as she dropped my rifle and cried into my friends shoulder. He handed me his controller as he consoled the crying thief. I successfully landed our craft and covered us while Mike and Kasumi got on. Shepard kicked Hock's body off the platform. We boarded and Kasumi dried her eyes and began to look into her partners Greybox. She told us she now had the difficult choice of either deleting her partners memories from the Greybox or secretly keeping them. Shepard convinced her to keep them and she then decided to drop off the gird so no one knew what secrets she now harbored. We returned to the ship and spoke nothing of it for the next few days. We had nothing more to do except take some jobs to help purchase weapons and ship upgrades for coming battles.

And I had to keep Mike from blowing us all to hell. No one said this job was easy.


	15. Chapter 15: Jack's Past

Chapter 15: Jack's past

Well, no word from the Illusive Man so far on anything we might be able to use against the Collectors, big surprise there. Had to help Garrus earlier with the new Thanix cannon, apparently it's a reversed engineered version of the thing Sovereign used against the Sixth Fleet during the battle for the Citadel. Garrus said the new gun should be more than enough to blow the hell out of the Collector Ship, maybe even two or three at a time. He said he had heard the Turian and Alliance military were working on a joint experiment to arm our fighters with smaller but equally powerful versions of the Thanix. Mike is real eager to test it out on the nearest Collector ship now, shame that there only seems to be one and Joker already has dibs on it.

Shepard talked with Jack earlier and found out she was an experiment, an experiment made by Cerberus at that too. That what's sent tingles down my spine, they fuckers who created this psychotic chick placed her on our crew and she took up residency near the work place of the people who we needed to keep the Normandy from blowing up, imploding, overheating and freezing us. Well basically anything that might kill or maim us. Jack luckily only got drunk and only went on minor frenzies that Miranda and I, with the occasional help from Mike and Thane. Mike's main purpose was body shield duty. But the only real damage from her little fits were well our uniforms. When she attacked us, most the attacks usually just sent bottles at us and she also usually puked on Miranda and me… gotta remember to suit up in Cerberus uniform to keep my poor miner outfit as clean as possible.

Shepard recently gave me an order about three hours ago to put together a bomb. He said he wanted it to be able to blast an entire base to hell and gone. Not sure but for some reason I had a feeling that we were going to walk straight into another Virmire incident, but luckily the bomb I was building in the hangar was eco friendly. Well by eco friendly, it wouldn't send out a bunch of radiation in all directions, thus rending the place unsafe to live. Miranda walked in as I began to finish welding on the last part of the outer casing. Monty flicked a red light beneath my welder mask to let me she was coming from behind me. "Hey Miranda," I said stopping my welding for a couple seconds.

"Hey. Shepard said I would find you here," she said.

"Yep. Got orders to build him a bomb. He wants extra extra strength apparently. Sounds like he wants to blow the fuck out of something. Cant really imagine what. But then again, I did ask if we could pay a visit to the fuckers who screwed with Jess's head," I said.

"Which ones? Cerberus or the Triads?" Miranda asked.

"I was thinking more of the Triads but I will settle for killing all but the Triad leader, and blowing up the Cerberus facility that made those damn things that screwed up Jess. But I did enjoy rappelling out of the building though. That was cool, sorta like the action heroes in those old movies," I said.

"Hehe. Well maybe I can find them, but I get to set the bomb," Miranda said.

"Deal. But I get to hit the detonator," I said. We both chuckled as I finished up the bomb, or as Mike put it, the 'Bomb on Steroids'. "okay, now whatever Shepard wants to blow up will be blow not only that but just about everything in a ten mile radius, give or take a mile. Now with that done I think I'll go check on a couple things back in my quarters." I said bye to her and went up to the crew quarters floor. I went into the shower and after about four minutes I came out and found some new clothes ready for me. "What the?" I muttered.

"Miranda stopped by. She figured she'd be of help and she actually picked some good gear for you," Monty said. I had to agree actually since the clothes, Miri left me were actually miner stuff. Even better, this was the suit I threw out, the one that had the holes from the gunship, but I had barely seen the sewing thread. Someone had gone a fixed my suit up, I think it might've been Miranda, but I'm not sure if she's actually into sewing. I put my suit on and walked back into my shared quarters. I flicked up my computer and began to look through my newest messages. Took me a few minutes to go through everything. I swear I must have had a hundred messages from my dad alone asking for any info on mom. I keep telling him that if we find anything, he'd be the first to know.

Right now though, sounds like he's on the deep end. I hope we find these damned Collectors fast. Stealing colonists who didn't do shit to them, is one thing but when they involve my family… their deaths will be brutal than anything. Good thing I'm not very religious. Man the look on Ash's face back the first Normandy after I told her that after I told her of my close encounters of death. I wish she was here, she was one of the only people from the old Normandy who I could trust. "Tex, got a minute?" a voice said from beyond the door.

"Sure, it's open by the way," I said as I popped a toothpick in my mouth. Kasumi walked in and sat down on the couch. "Why did you ask that though? You live here too?" I asked her as I continued scanning through my mail and designs I'd drawn up.

"Look, I want some help," she said.

"Hey I already helped with that… that vault job. I'm not helping with any more sneaking missions," I said.

"No its with Mike," she said. I turned around in my chair to face.

"What about him? What'd he do this time?" I asked. Ever since Mike rejoined our team… we'd seen an increase in high jinks aboard the ship. Even worse… every one is complaining to me thinking I'm _**his**_ commander. I swear another person complains about him…

"Well its not a complaint. Rather an offer for help," she said.

"Huh? What you want to get back at him?" I asked. Well least I won't have to go crazy today.

"No, I want to you get him to like me," she said.

"whoa whoa. You want to get Mike to like you? Huh I could've sworn you'd want to complain about something he did or at least try to screw with his head," I said.

"No, before I met the soldier… I didn't think anyone could replace the hole Keiji left when Hock killed him. Now I'd like your help with this. You and him are the best of friends… maybe you could put in a good word for me?" Kasumi asked.

"Hmm sure I guess I could. I aint got anything to do," I said.

"Tex," my comm link beeped.

"Hmm?" I said as brought up my omnitool.

"Find Mike, suit up and get down here on the double! also be sure to bring the bomb's detonator. I know you took it with you earlier," Shepard said.

"Great. Well so much for writing home," I said," alright I'll talk to Mike on the Shuttle ride to the… whatever place we're going. Be it a planet or a space station or even an exploding station. Or whatever the hell we go to."

"Thanks Tex. Let me know what happens," Kasumi said as she left. I quickly suited up in my armor and ran a quick equipment check. One of Mike's recent practical jokes involved taking out a couple of my armors components. Fortunately I never gave him any run throughs with the armor systems or its blue prints so he never knows what to pull and mostly only pulls non critical components out of the system. unfortunately, at the same time he sometimes got lucky and ended up pulling out the radar system, motor programming, optics, targeting and most recently… the shielding system. it's a good thing we've haven't had any actual combat otherwise, my ass would've been blown away four days ago.

Mike, Kasumi and I went down planet to recover some sort of hover tank and well… once we were on planet my damn armor went into lockdown. Mike had removed the motor programming and well the suit spazzed out and without the damn programming to keep the motors in check… well the rest is self explanatory. and also once we were in the tank Mike reinstalled the chip but as he had no access to the blueprints… I was barely lucky to move my damn arms. luckily the rest of the mission just involved ensuring the tank worked right and blasting rock formations to test the cannon and its targeting systems.

"Monty any missing components?" I asked my faithful A.I. program.

"Negative. All components, critical and non, are where they should be," Monty said.

"Thanks bro. now to meet the commander at the shuttle," I muttered to myself. I quickly grabbed my weapons first. an M16 with ACOG and an M203 attachments and an M1911. I quickly looked through and decided to grab something of prototype nature, not gonna go into specifics. I went straight to the elevator and hit the descend button. Took the damn thing almost forever to show up though. Mike was finishing his meal as he walked up. Thankfully he was already suited up for the mission.

"So you gonna ask out Miranda?" he asked as we boarded the elevator.

"When are you gonna stop that?" I asked.

"When you actually act like a man and ask the chick out you moron. I see the way she looks at you," he said.

"What the 'I swear to god ima kill him' look?" I asked.

"No the 'I like him' look. trust me, have I ever steered you wrong?" he asked.

"Well remember when you hooked me up with your sis? I was paranoid for a few weeks cause she started to stalk me after a couple weeks," I said in response.

"Okay in her defense she was madly in love. plus you did spend abit of time with that one girl," Mike said.

"Yeah hanging out and having study sessions. you ever try to work when all of a sudden you notice her watching you from afar?" I asked.

"dude, Miranda is kinda doing that with you and you're not complaining," Mike said.

"Wait what?" I asked.

"Nothing, nothing. But seriously just go up to her and ask her out," Mike said.

"Mike just shut up," I said. the elevator finally stopped at the loading area where Shepard and Jack were waiting. Mike and I quickly put the bomb onto the shuttle and climbed aboard. Mike climbed into the cockpit and began the check flight list.

"Man ever since you made me read that damn zombie I've been constantly reciting the pilot in that one part. I blame you buddy," Mike said.

"Oh stop whining. Puts some variety in you chatter don't it?" I asked.

"Yeah but I'd rather not recite the check flight list for a damn propeller aircraft that has not been used for what an hundred forty years or so," Mike said.

"Just shut up and do the check list," Shepard said," I wanna hear this."

"Fine. Number one, clock started. Number two, Starter switch on. Number three, Battery above ten volts. Number four, ignition light on. Number five, oil pressure rising," Mike said.

"oil? How old is that book of yours?" Shepard asked.

"Oh about a couple hundred years. Still a pretty cool book actually. I think it's available on those data pad books," I said. Mike went off indiscriminately and it was the final check that really got Shepard and even Jack to laugh.

"Number 9, Thumbs up to the lineman," Mike said. Shepard and Jack almost burst out laughing. I even almost began to laugh from this and almost half expected the sound of a propeller engine to sound off. But as usual the jet engines roared instead and Mike took us out of the ship.

"Hey Tex," Shepard said.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"You guys wanna know what the mission is?" he asked.

"Sure. I prefer to know what kind of death I'm putting myself up against!" Mike said.

"We're going in to eradicate a Cerberus base," Shepard simply said.

"Whoa hombre. A Cerberus base? Are you sure that's smart? I mean I'm up for blowing shit up and all but blowing up a base that belongs to the assholes who fund our little operation? I don't know about that," Mike said.

"Yeah plus I really don't feel like facing a shit ton of Cerberus operatives who reallywant to kill me," I said.

"Don't worry you big babies. The base we're gonna blow up has long since been decommissioned. It's a little personal business I have to take care of," Jack said.

"Decommissioned? What do you by decommissioned?" Mike asked.

"And by personal business?" I asked.

"I was once a former resident there. Or a fucking freakshow they turned into a weapon if you will. They did shit to us that would've made us better soldiers or some bullshit. I never understood," Jack said.

"How the fuck could you not understand?" I asked.

"I was a fucking kid back then! It's not like the assholes made it easy to understand! All I know is that everyone hated me, I hated them and they did the worst possible shit on me!" Jack shouted.

"What? What kinda fucked up shit is that? Supped up Spartan training?" Mike asked.

"No, I read about these Spartans. How they trained their kids to be the best soldiers. The training and other shit the rest of the candidates went through was a shit ton more brutal and way more fucking aggressive. Mine was three times that too," Jack said.

"Jesus. Hey Mike, we gotta remember to find as many bases of these fuckers as possible and blow the fuck outta them all!" I shouted.

"Copy that buddy! Now if the coordinates are right we should be seeing it soon," mike said.

"Once we see it. You'll have to land on the roof. The pad is there, trust me. It has to be on the roof else the jungle would have overrun it in a matter of hours," Jack said.

"Oh please. I've made worse landings with virtually no landing areas," Mike said.

"Yeah and by worse landings, he means crashes," I pointed out.

"Oh hahaha. So funny I forgot to laugh," Mike said. The facility came into view and Mike did a flyby to find the pad. Once he found it, we landed and began offloading. Mike and I began to grab the bomb and carried the damn thing all the way through the joint. We walked through it with relative ease, the only enemy contact we made was the occasional feral Varren from the planet. Jack would sometimes go into detail on her time here, freaked the ever living hell out of me while she did. Mike even turned white when we came upon the little dueling arena and looked like he'd puke.

We made our way deeper and found a couple Varren KIA's. Jack took a closer look and said," These kills are fresh. Someone else was here or still is."

"who the hell would be here? Aint nothing here but vines, busted up computers, skeletons and Varren," I said. We suddenly heard a soft squishing sound followed by Mike groaning.

"Don't forget goddamn Varren shit. Great, that's gonna smell for a while," Mike groaned.

"Haha, justice buddy. Always saying Miri likes me," I said with a chuckle.

"The Cerberus Cheerleader? Makes sense," Jack said.

"Wait how the hell does that make sense?" I asked.

"Both of you are biotics, little connection with your fathers, smart and a few other things. I read your dossier by the way," Jack said.

"Ha! Admit it buddy! If Jack can say you two are practically meant for each other, then you have to do it!" Mike shouted with laughter at his victory.

"gotta agree with Mike here Tex," Shepard said. I simply rolled my eyes as we continued and started to secretly agree with Mike. If jack was agreeing with this, Mike must be right in some way. Or Jack could just be fucking with our heads again. We continued on and as we passed through a section of the facility, we suddenly came under fire from Vorcha troops.

"Shit!" Mike said as he and I dropped the bomb and dove for cover. I drew my M16 and quickly began to open up on our ambushers.

"Mike, Tex! Grab the bomb!" Shepard shouted.

"Don't worry about it, it's got plenty of armor to protect it!" I shouted back.

"Hey you got that damn weapon?" Mike asked. He was refering to the prototype I grabbed earlier.

"Yeah!" I said.

"well now's a good time to test it!" Mike shouted. He suppressed the enemy as I grabbed the prototype. It was essentially a rifle that fired a very special bullet. I pulled it out, aimed down range fired. What happened next, well lets just say the cover the Vorcha was behind… didn't matter for shit. The round hit the barrier and just kept going through, but once it entered the Vorcha flesh… it separated into multiple rounds and zig zaged through the body. The ammo is what sucked, the round emitted so much heat, the heat sink practically melted. I chambered another heat sink, found another Vorcha and it's fate was like that of it's comrade. Mike grabbed one of my frags, pulled the pin and tossed toward another Vorcha soldier and gave Shepard enough time to move to a new position.

Within a few minutes, the Vorcha were dealt with and we continued onward, Shepard now wanted to know what the hell kinda of gun I had. "Remember that shipment of weapons my dad sent us?" I asked.

"Yeah," Shepard said.

"This was among them. I had heard of it but never thought they'd have actual working prototypes," I explained.

"Wait prototypes? As in more than one?" Mike asked.

"Yeah. Only about four though. Damn thing is supposed to be able to go through about two feet of armor but sadly I haven't tested against enemies like that," I said.

"I got dibs on one of the three left," Mike said.

"Dibs on one," Shepard said. We moved forward and ran into a second enemy squad. I tossed Shepard the rifle to let him try it out as I relied on my M16. I loaded the 203 and readied it.

"Fire in the Hole!" I shouted. I pulled the trigger and sent the grenade high and true. It exploded behind two Vorcha and took them out of the fight. But now we had to deal with a couple Krogan, I was sure how the new rifle would deal or even affect the armored foes. I soon found out as Shepard fired one round and saw that not only did the rifle round take out the armor, but the round still had enough momentum to enter the Krogan. The damn bastard didn't go down unfortunately. So I quickly fired a three round burst into the Krogan and brought the bastard down. Shepard was going to town with the new rifle. Now he had a gun that could take down enemies with a single shot, even if they were behind cover, hope he's got plenty of heatsinks. We moved forward and found ourselves confronted with one last challenge, a squad of similar size to the last two but with a couple more Krogan.

The Krogan was going on about some shit on salvaging some stuff from this base. But as he saw, this place didn't have a whole lot of salvage since Varren were infesting the damn place and well quite honestly this was just a shit hole. He ordered his damn cronies to attack, a few armored Vorcha and a couple of their damn Pyros backed up by him and his Krogan. Even though he outnumbered us, we still whooped his ass. And by whooped, I mean we just filled him with a lead. Jack though wanted to know who the hell was doing this, with a vengeance too. She led the way to her cell, Shepard the only one keeping up with her though. Mike and I had to pick up the bomb and carry it over. We arrived just as Jack forced some poor guy down with Biotics and was about to execute him. "Jack! You don't need to do this! You're better than this!" Shepard said to his team mate.

"Um what the hell is going on?" Mike asked.

"This bastard was going to restart the fucking thing that fucked me up! I not about to let that happen!" Jack shouted.

"Jack! You really think this guy can start this again? You know what type of funds that would call for? And that's just getting this shithole cleaned up. Equipment, personnel and other shit he'd need, he'd just cause for this shit hole to go into the ground again! Not too mention when we blow the ever living hell outta this place!" Shepard said.

"Shepards right. Even if he were to restart this project, which would be fucking insane, how the hell would he get it off the ground? I'm willing to bet most if not all of the computer databases here are blown to hell, chewed on and just plain old rusted to pieces. You got nothing to worry about," I said.

"Yeah come on Jack. Lower your weapon, this aint the way to go. You're better than this. Let the guy go. He's trapped in the past, chasing after ghosts, ghosts that we are gonna blow the fuck up!" Mike said. Jack was obviously torn as hell, she was a killer and could've easily pulled the trigger. But she didn't. She actually let the guy go and once he was gone Jack began to look over her old cell as Mike and I prepared the bomb. I could hear her just talking about the bed, desk and other stuff in the room and honestly, I felt sorry for her. She was trapped here, and in more ways than one it seemed. Sure she got away, sure the place is rundown but it haunted her. All the bad stuff and shit she went through, that stuck with her and made it incredibly hard for her to go on.

I was glad to have made this bomb, she was about to be rid of the place that broke her forever. After a few seconds I said," Shepard, bombs armed. Ready to go off."

"Good. Give Jack the detonator," Shepard said. I walked over and gave Jack the detonator and a simple nod. Mike stood and followed behind us as we made our way back to the ship. Jack called out some random stuff every now then, remembering how this place was. She was just glad as hell to be rid of it though, we all could tell. Once we were in the shuttle, I barely remembered what Kasumi had asked me to do earlier. So instead of invoking either Jack's or Shepard's wrath I just sent Mike the following message.

_Hey Mike,_

_Heard someone on the crew has a thing for you. She however wont let me tell you her name. you have to figure it out. Will help by setting up a date for you two. Be nice for you to actually hold down a relationship man._

_-Tex._

He read it and replied with his own damning message.

_Tex,_

_Only if you make it a double date bro. me and my 'secret admirer' and then you and Miranda. Damn me or whatever but fairs fair man. _

_-Mike_

I just scowled and prepared for the coming shockwave from the bomb we set. After we were about fifty miles out or so, Jack flicked the detonator open and looked at Shepard, giving him the look that said she was going hit the detonator. Shepard nodded and began hitting on the wall to let Mike know about the fireworks. Three seconds, we heard an enormous boom from behind. The bomb had been detonated and left nothing but a crater and smoldering ash. The shuttle quickly went into orbit to make contact with the Normandy. After the mission, Jack went to the bar and got drunk… again for the eighth time today. How she doesn't have liver damage, I will never know.

(A/N: And Fin for Chapter 15. sorry if its taking too long but i can assure[to whoever actually wants this thing to finish] that this will be finished. just have patience and hope i can write up the last of the loyalty missions soon. And will not put the Shadow Broker missions in this, will save that for the next story. Thanks to all who read and havent given me too much crap on whatever may be wrong or not sound right. and once again, Please Review once done with the chapter.)


	16. UPDATE

Attention to all who still know who I am and still know what I write. This is Gethkiller117 here.

Alright I know it's been a couple of years since my last update on well anything. Not sure if anyone is going to still read or care at this point but I am coming back with my stories. To those who know of my characters Tex and Mike in Mass Effect, I will be putting in a chapter of why Tex is so… superior to Shepard. It may not make sense as it's been a while since I last thought of it but it wont matter since I think you will like this second announcement. I plan to continue on the other fanfics I've begun and more will follow too. Such future installments may be of Tex and Mike continuing some crazy shit in the ME verse with some of their friends from Red Versus Blue. Also if you are interested I will try to put up newer stories re-telling the Mass Effect games differently with new OCs( may or may not keep Tex and Mike) helping Commander Shepard out.

Also I will keep the other fanfics a secret, more or less, until I have at least three chapters or so done on the other fanfics each. So if you still remember me and think its worth waiting, Stay tuned for future fanfics and hopefully better summaries. Gethkiller117 signing off. Thank you all for reading and you may continue about your day.


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